The Shorthorn - Open house may help students get into graduate medical programs

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Open house may help students get into graduate medical programs

Written by Vinod Srinivasan, The Shorthorn staff

Thursday, 29 October 2009 07:18 PM

When and Where

Science Constituency Council presents Open House 2009
When: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday
Where: University Center Bluebonnet Ballroom

Students interested in medicine can meet representatives from about 20 graduate programs Monday.

The Science Constituency Council will host its second open house from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the University Center Bluebonnet Ballroom to give students an opportunity to learn and plan for life. Last year, 300 people attended. SCC President Natalia Vargas said she is expecting more people this Monday because of advertisement increase, and she hopes this year’s event attracts a varied audience.

“There will be professional schools from a variety of health professions besides medical and dental schools,” Vargas said. “We will have people from environmental health sciences, chiropractic and even biomedical sciences to draw in some chemistry students.”

Some attending universities include the School of Health Professions from UT Southwestern and the College of Dental Medicine from Midwestern University.

Psychology junior Amanda Clark said she thinks about applying to medical school in the spring, and the open house would help.

“These events have useful information from all sorts of professional schools about what to do after college,” Clark said.

The first open house held was in spring 2009. It will now be held in the fall to allow students more time to plan what to do the rest of the year, Vargas said.

She said the council is holding this event to open doors for students, especially freshmen, who aren’t sure where they are heading in their field.

“People can explore their options,” Vargas said. “Freshmen will find the open house useful because they can get a much earlier start by being able to get information directly from some of the colleges that they plan on applying to.”

The Princeton Review, which offers standardized test preparation classes, will raffle a free Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) or Graduate Record Examination (GRE) course, depending on what the winner wants.

Microbiology senior Polun Chou said he might attend to understand what medical schools expect.

“You don’t want to commit eight years of your life and not know what you are doing,” Chou said.

Vargas said professional schools choose to attend these events because they can inform and find better candidates.