Pre-meds get advice at forum

Anxious to provide students with more information about medical school, the John Morgan PreHealth Society held an open discussion for interested undergraduates yesterday. Prospective medical students attended the forum where a panel of current University Medical School students answered questions about the application process and their current academic experiences. "The questions asked by the undergraduates reflected their well-founded concerns," said Deb Levy, College junior and co-vice president of Activities for the Society. "I think the medical students were very successful in allaying the fear about the application process." Levy also said she was very pleased with the attendance and variety of panelists who could relate to the different issues brought up by the undergraduates. The medical students answered questions about volunteering at hospitals in preparation for medical school. In addition, they discussed their workload and stressed that pre-med students should have time for extra activities and should enjoy their undergraduate years. "I hope it was beneficial for them," said fourth-year medical student Craig DellaValle. "It was important to reassure them that people in medical school have time for outside interests, but at the same time make them realize that medical school takes up a large block of time with training easily spanning 10 years." Several panelists came away from the forum hoping that students would continue to ask pertinent questions before deciding whether to apply to medical school. "The more you speak to other medical students, the more you will be prepared," said fourth-year medical student Lisa Forman. Fourth-year medical student Doug Martin said students should continue to ask questions about the admissions process and medical school in general. "I hoped the students had a healthy sense of skepticism," he added. Several students reacted positively to the forum. "I was concerned about what it takes beyond good MCAT grades and scores to get into the best medical schools such as Penn," said College sophomore Guy Lin. "Overall, it was informative and it touched on the major issues." College sophomore Mitchell Berger agreed. "It's kind of refreshing to get the student's point-of-view instead of the professor's," he said. Approximately 50 undergraduates attended the event, which was held in the Ben Franklin Room of Houston Hall.

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