Oct
28
Written by:
saralynch
10/28/2009 12:35 PM
One of my favorite classes this semester is Pre-Med Seminar. I don’t say this because it is a zero credit hour class or that you get a passing grade for just showing up. I say this because it is very beneficial for all students looking to be entering medical school one day. The Pre-Med Seminar is a brand new program this year. Lasting five semesters, it begins the second semester of your freshman year and ends the second semester of your junior year. The goal of the program is to educate students looking to go to medical school about the application process and the necessities needed to be a qualified prospective medical school student.
If you complete the program, and you do this by simply showing up to class, you will receive a University letter. Medical schools highly recommend having a University letter and some even require it. The letter basically states that Creighton endorses you as an excellent and highly qualified student to be entering medical school.
And while this letter is a perk for completing the program, the course itself is full of perks. No one in my family is a physician. I am COMPLETELY clueless about how the application process works and am sort of in a bind when it comes to finding doctors to shadow. This class walks you through the application process and takes the time to explain what medical schools are looking for in students. Last class, they brought the Dean of Creighton’s School of Medicine and one of the School of Medicine’s interviewers to come talk to us about what they look for in students’ applications and what stands out to them. It was incredibly beneficial to hear from individuals that may be interviewing me in two years what can set you apart.
I learned from the Dean that Creighton’s School of Medicine highly values shadowing. For me, shadowing is a challenge because I don’t have anyone in my family that could set me up with physicians to shadow, and not being from Omaha, I don’t have any physicians here that I know or am a patient of. The directors of the program are currently compiling a list of doctors in the Omaha area that are willing to let students shadow them. Another nice thing about this program is HIPPA regulations often make physicians wary about having students shadow in their offices. One of our classes coming up will be dedicated to getting us all HIPPA certified. 
Overall this class is enlightening and incredibly beneficial for students looking to be pre-med. I highly recommend any students that come to Creighton remotely interested in being pre-med to take this class. You won’t regret it! You know a class is good when it is on a Friday afternoon and consistently the 300 students enrolled in it show up week after week.
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