Society sets up mentoring system

The John Morgan Pre-Health Society hosted its annual mentor program last night to link first and second-year medical students with pre-medical undergraduates. About 60 undergraduates attended the program to learn about the application process and student life in medical school. "We decided to host this event to give pre-med students a general idea of what medical school is all about," said John Morgan Society Newsletter Vice President Brian Wong, an Engineering sophomore. "I am sure that each student attending the program will leave more informed about the medical field." The program began with brief introductions from the 18 medical student panelists and quickly moved into a question and answer period. The panelists stressed that medical school is "not all work." They also encouraged the pre-med students to pursue non-science interests during their undergraduate years. Nearly all of the panelists said that choosing the right school is a complicated process. "I applied to 22 schools," said second year medical student Tad Dibben. "If there's a chance that you will consider going to a place, go ahead and apply. It's only 50 dollars, and you'll be spending 35,000." Although most of the panelists said they thought the University's medical school provides one of the best educations in the nation, many said that undergraduates should also look at less expensive alternatives. "You should look very closely at state med-schools in your state," said second year student Jim Kallman. "It's a much better bargain, and you'll be a MD there as well as here." After the panel, the medical students were informally linked with undergraduates to discuss the pre-med students' concerns. "The program is to bridge the gap between undergraduate and medical school students," said John Morgan Mentor Program Chairperson Riaz Patel, a College sophomore. "We want undergraduates to meet others who have already gone through the process and survived. The main goal of John Morgan is to make life a little easier for pre-meds." Undergraduate students said the program provided them with personal information in a comfortable environment. "The best way to understand anything first-hand is to talk to someone who has experienced it," College freshman Bumsoo Pong said. "Listening to the medical students gives you the insights and information you cannot get from reading or research."