15th
Postbaccalaureate Premedical Programs
Having just completed a postbaccalaureate premedical program, I have some perspective on it that I’d like to share here:
First off, what are we talking about? Well, a postbaccalaureate premedical program is pretty much a fancy way of saying that you’re going to pay to take the premedical prerequisites for medical school and that you’re going to do so having already received your college degree. There may be some degree of structure to the program. I know for instance, that the Scripps program had a former postbac student (waiting to begin medical school) helping postbac students adjust their course schedules as well as helping them with homework, even. Postbac programs tend to have a more responsive and invested adviser.
Is it necessary to attend a postbaccalaureate program to attend medical school?
No, you can take the necessary classes at your local state Uni. Yet there are advantages to postbac programs. For instance, certain programs, like Goucher, Bryn Mawr, and Scripps, all but guarantee acceptance into med school, should you be accepted into said programs. Yet this may because the screening process is so tough: you pretty much need a 3.7+ GPA and an SAT (which correlates with MCAT score) of 1400+ to have a shot. These schools also allow you to begin medical school shortly after completion of the postbac program, without the year-long delay that other postbacs endure between submitting their applications and matriculation. A given student must maintain a high GPA (I want to say 3.6-7+ and MCAT scores 30-31-32+) in order to be “linked” in this manner.
I actually think the most important distinction isn’t between taking classes in a postbac vs. entree-style. It’s between taking courses at public vs. private schools. I highly recommend taking your coursework at a private school. The fact is, public schools have large classes and unforgiving curves. Private schools tend to be more liberal in their grading. (And this is particularly important in your science-based coursework: physics, organic chemistry, general chemistry, and biology—the courses comprising your postbac.) Given average matriculating med school GPAs in the 3.7 range this is a very important distinction indeed. The drawback to private schools, of course, is their price. Perhaps the best of both worlds would be to take coursework at a less competitive state school. Medical schools, for whatever reason, give hardly any weight to where you take your classes (though you would be wise to avoid community colleges).
So that’s some general knowledge about postbac programs. Feel free to ping me for more. Now what follows, as printed in Catalyst magazine, is my take on the American University Program in particular:
Elspeth Clark isn’t your typical premed. She has already received her degree—in linguistics from Cornell—and she’s spent the past two years in Japan teaching English. Yet the 27-year-old Clark currently finds herself taking undergraduate cell biology and biochemistry here at American University—not to mention acting as a general chemistry laboratory teaching assistant and volunteering at Children’s National Medical Center—as she works toward a career as a physician.
Though not your usual premed, Clark is far from alone on campus. Many others have recognized, after completing a humanities degree, that their true calling is medicine—or some related health field. There are currently 47 such “postbaccalaureate pre-health students” at American University, enrolled in courses such as organic chemistry and physics that are required by medical, dental, and veterinary schools across the country.
Lynne Arneson, adjunct professor of biology in American University’s College of Arts and Sciences, oversees postbaccalaureate students in her capacity as premedical programs coordinator. Describing her advising role as her “primary focus,” Arneson maintains that the life experience postbaccalaureate students have accumulated serves them well in navigating the difficult path to medical school.
Nonetheless, Arneson, who took over as premedical programs coordinator in 2009, personally provides a wealth of support services for postbaccalaureate students to help them along the way. In addition to overseeing the creation of a committee letter in support of each postbaccalaureate’s application (“it turns the applicant from a GPA and MCAT score into a living, breathing, 3-D person”), Arneson organizes health-related volunteer work; publishes a premed newsletter, the Annual Checkup; enforces application deadlines; and requires students to attend mock interviews. “We keep track of the administrative details so students can focus on their studies,” says Arneson.
“I chose the American University Postbaccalaureate Program because I wanted structure and advising as I completed my premed requirements,” says Adriana Ponce, an ’08 graduate of Loyola Marymount University, where she double-majored in art history and political science. Ponce, who appreciates the personal attention she gets from her professors at American University, also values the fact that “Dr. Arneson’s door is always open.” In fact, Arneson teaches classes only before 10 a.m. or after 5 p.m. so that she can maintain maximum availability for her advisees.
While contemplating a career as a lawyer, Ponce ultimately decided on medicine after consulting with her family. Her father, an interventional cardiologist practicing in Los Angeles, helped her to realize the joy that comes from caring for patients in their time of need. Immediately after graduating, Ponce applied to the American University Postbaccalaureate Program, where she is currently taking physics, upper division biology, and biochemistry courses. Ponce looks forward to a future career as a physician, which she views as a “vocation as opposed to a job”—a calling.
Although most postbaccalaureate students are pursuing human medicine or dentistry, there are a few who are taking courses in preparation for a career as a veterinarian. Stephanie Abrams, an environmental studies major at Skidmore College, is one of them. She was struck by the care and attention with which veterinarians worked to save the life of her dangerously ill kitten. She went on to shadow several veterinarians before deciding to pursue a veterinary career. While taking physics and biochemistry at American University, Abrams plans to volunteer at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., next semester. Abrams, like Ponce, has a father who practices as a physician—and a mother who practices, too—but ultimately decided that caring for animals was where her passion lay.
A notable difference between postbaccalaureate programs and a typical premed path is that the former occurs on an accelerated schedule. While a premedical student takes four years to complete requirements, a postbaccalaureate student does it in one or two years. Thus Clark, Ponce, and Abrams will all be applying in fall 2010 for matriculation in their chosen health graduate school in fall 2011. “It’s a rare night that I’m not studying, grading, or reading,” says Clark as she prepares for the home stretch.
For all their hard work, Clark and company have a lot to look forward to. American University postbaccalaureate students have gone on to attend some of the most prestigious medical and pre-health professional schools in the country. A partial list of schools at which American University postbaccalaureates have been accepted in the past two years includes George Washington University School of Medicine, the University of Colorado Medical College, the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, the National Naval Medical Center, the Uniform Services University of Health Sciences, and the University of Pennsylvania School of Dentistry. For the 2009 application cycle, the American University Postbaccalaureate Program boasted an acceptance rate of 85 percent for qualified applicants, designated as those with a GPA above 3.3 and MCAT scores above 8 per section. “I think all of my students deserve to go to medical school after everything they’ve been through,” says Arneson.
http://american.edu/cas/catalyst/upload/2010-spring-catalyst-sm.pdf
