CBUlogo3Mpp

Health Careers at Christian Brothers University:
2011-2012

Prepared by Dr. Stan Eisen, Director
Pre-Health Programs
Christian Brothers University

650 East Parkway South
Memphis, TN 38104

321-3447; 321-4433 (FAX)
E-mail:
seisen@cbu.edu
http://www.cbu.edu/~seisen/hc.html

Links to Christian Brothers University:
University Home Page
School of Science Home Page

Updated:  October 25, 2011

Table of Contents

I.Introduction
II.Some Things to Think About
      A.  About your Facebook page
      B.  Numbers of post-high years of schooling

      C.  If it were that easy, everyone would be doing it
      D.  Entering Medical Student Expectations
III.Criminal Background Checks will become routine
IV.Some General Recommendations
V.Medicine

VI.Pharmacy
VII.Dental
VIII.Medical Technology
IX.Physical Therapy
X.Occupational Therapy

XI.Dental Hygiene
XII. Cytotechnology
XIII. Health Information Management
XIV. Nursing
XV.Optometry
XVI. Veterinary Medicine.
XVII. Physician's Assistant
XVIII.  Podiatry
XIX.  Audiology
XX. Military Scholarships
XXI. Salary Ranges for Biomedical Careers
XXII.Preprofessional Evaluation Request Form
XXIII.  Timeline for submitting Evaluation Request Form
XXIV.When it comes time to write your personal essay, you need to read this

 

I. Introduction

          This booklet is for students who are interested in a career in the health sciences. It includes summaries of the required courses for specific health-related professional schools, the number of hours, and the names of those courses as they are listed in the CBU catalogue. Although the focus is on the various colleges at the University of Tennessee - Memphis, the programs of the College of Veterinary Medicine at UT - Knoxville, the Southern College of Optometry, and the nursing program at the University of Memphis are also covered.

II.Some Things to Think About

 

A.         Your Facebook presence may be damaging to you and to your friends.

This is adapted from an e-mail sent to me by  Barbara Huntington, PHP Director at SDSU:

Hi Students,

This is urgent.  At the conference for admissions officers and preprofessional health advisors in Santa Fe, we spent several sessions talking about the use of Face Book in medical school admissions and many do check.  Please accept these suggestions as serious and urgent.

1.  Don't post anything you wouldn't want your mother, your boss, an admissions officer, or me to see.  (Please don't block me or I won't be able to warn you if something could hurt you.)

2.  Go through all your pictures of anything that might be even slightly inappropriate (folks looking drunk, holding bottles of liquor, in revealing clothes, discussing parts of anatomy, using foul language, etc) and take off all the tags--especially of people applying to health prof. schools.  Even if the picture itself is ok,  take off the tags if it is in a group of pictures that might lead one to believe the person was at an inappropriate place/party.

3.  Then go back and erase any of those kinds of pictures or pix of friends in groups of those pictures.

4.  Take out any comments that look like you are trying to be sneaky, or you wouldn't want the schools you or your friends are applying to to see.

5.  Some of your friends are applying now, so don't wait.

I realize everyone is enjoying all the fun stuff (and you should) at the end of school, but you also don't want to brand CBU as a party school of students who might not show the best judgement in posting on Facebook because YOU ARE FROM CBU AND WILL BE  JUDGED AS A PRODUCT OF THAT SCHOOL  --Best wishes on your finals and have fun (but be discrete).

 

 

 

B.  Question 1:  How many post-high school years of education are you willing to tolerate? +

         Question 2:  Are you people-oriented or thing-oriented?

 

·         How many post-high school years of education are you willing to tolerate?

Are you People- or Thing-Oriented?

·         1-3

·         4-6

·         7-8

·         >8

People-Oriented

·         Licensed Practical nurse

·         Genetic Counselor

·         Physical/ Occupational Therapist

·         Bachelor's of Science Nurse

·         Veterinarian

·         Dentist

·         Nurse practitioner

·         Optometrist

·         Pharmacist

·         Pediatrician

·         Internist

·         Family Medicine

People-oriented more than Thing-Oriented

·         Dental Hygienist

·         Phlebotomist

·         Park ranger

·         Zoo curator

·         Speech pathologist

·         Research scientist

·         Oncologist

Thing-oriented more than people- oriented

·         X-ray technologist

·         Fisheries/ Wildlife Biologist

·         Medical Technologist

·         Geneticist

·         Surgeon

Thing-Oriented

·         DNA technologist

·         Quality control lab tech

·         Medical Office Manager

·         Bio-statistician

·         Radiologist

 

 

C.    If it were that easy (i.e. getting into a clinical health-related graduate program, everyone would be doing it.

It takes planning, over 4 years.  Here’s a useful website of things to consider, from the AAMC (This timeline is equally appropriate for clinical health-related graduate programs other than medicine.)

http://www.cbu.edu/~seisen/AAMC_Timeline.htm

 

D.  Entering Medical Student Expectations

 

 

 

Entering Medical Student Expectations – excerpted from a joint report from Scientific Foundations for Future Physicians, a joint publication of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) – 2009. 

 

ScientificFoundationsForFuturePhysicians_Page_01

 

 

Notwithstanding the focus of this initiative, the committee believes that the specific guidance and recommendations presented for undergraduate competencies are not limited to the student engaged in premedical education, but are also valuable for the subsequent study of any career in the health or life sciences. 

 

Overarching Competency at the Time of Entry into Medical School:

 

Demonstrate both knowledge of and ability to use basic principles of mathematics and statistics, physics, chemistry, biochemistry, and biology needed for the application of the sciences to human health and disease; demonstrate observational and analytical skills and the ability to apply those skills and principles of biological situations.

 

Competency E1:  Apply quantitative reasoning and appropriate mathematics to describe or explain phenomena in the natural world.

 

Learning Objectives:

 

1.      Demonstrate quantitative numeracy and facility with the language of mathematics;

2.     Interpret data sets and communicate those interpretations using visual and other appropriate tools;

3.     Make statistical inferences from data sets;

4.     Extract relevant information from large data sets;

5.     Make inferences about natural phenomena using mathematical models;

6.     Apply algorithmic approaches and principles of logic (including the distinction between cause/effect and association) to problem solving;

7.     Quantify and interpret changes in dynamical systems.

 

Competency E2:  Demonstrate understanding of the process of scientific inquiry, and explain how scientific knowledge is discovered and validated. 

 

Learning Objectives:

 

1.      Develop observational and interpretive skills through hands-on laboratory or field experiences;

2.     Demonstrate ability to measure with precision, accuracy, and safety;

3.     Be able to operate basic laboratory instrumentation for scientific measurement;

4.      Be able to articulate (in guided inquiry or in project-based research) scientific questions and hypotheses, design experiments, acquire data, perform data analysis, and present results;

5.     Demonstrate the ability to search effectively, to evaluate critically, and to communicate and analyze the scientific literature.

 

Competency E3:  Demonstrate knowledge of basic physical principles and their applications to the understanding of living systems. 

 

Learning Objectives:

 

1.      Demonstrate understanding ob mechanics as applied to human and diagnostic systems;

2.     Demonstrate knowledge of the principles of electricity and magnetism (e.g. charge, current flow, resistance, capacitance, electrical potential, and magnetic fields);

3.     Demonstrate knowledge of wave generation and propagation to the production and transmission of radiation;

4.     Demonstrate knowledge of the principles of thermodynamics and fluid motion;

5.     Demonstrate knowledge of quantum mechanics, such as atomic and molecular energy levels, spin, and ionizing radiation;

6.     Demonstrate knowledge of principles of systems behavior, including input-output relationships and positive and negative feedback

 

Competency E4:  Demonstrate knowledge of basic principles of chemistry and some of their applications to the understanding of living systems.

 

Learning Objectives: 

 

1.      Demonstrate knowledge of atomic structure;

2.     Demonstrate knowledge of molecular structure;

3.     Demonstrate knowledge of molecular interactions;

4.     Demonstrate knowledge of thermodynamic criteria for spontaneity of physical processes and chemical reactions and the relationship of thermodynamics to chemical equilibrium;

5.     Demonstrate knowledge of principles of chemical reactivity to explain chemical kinetics and derive possible reaction mechanisms;

6.     Demonstrate knowledge of the chemistry of carbon-containing compounds relevant to their behavior in an aqueous environment.

 

Competency E5:  Demonstrate knowledge of how biomolecules contribute to the structure and function of cells. 

 

Learning Objectives:

 

1.      Demonstrate knowledge of the structure, biosynthesis, and degradation of biological macromolecules;

2.     Demonstrate knowledge of the principles of chemical thermodynamics and kinetics that drive biological processes in the context of space (i.e. compartmentation) and time:  enzyme-catalyzed reactions and metabolic pathways, regulation, integration, and the chemical logic of sequential reaction steps;

3.     Demonstrate knowledge of the biochemical processes that carry out transfer of biological information from DNA, and how these processes are regulated;

4.     Demonstrate knowledge of the principles of genetics and epigenetics to explain heritable traits in a variety of organisms.

 

Competency E6:  Apply understanding of principles of how molecular and cell assemblies, organs, and organisms develop structure and carry out function. 

 

Learning Objectives: 

 

1.     Employ knowledge of the general components of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, such as molecular, microscopic, macroscopic, and three-dimensional structure, to explain how different components contribute to cellular and organismal function;

2.     Demonstrate knowledge of how cell-cell junctions and the extracellular matrix interact to form tissues with specialized function;

3.     Demonstrate knowledge of the mechanisms governing cell division and development of embryos;

4.     Demonstrate knowledge of the principles of biomechanics and explain structural and functional properties of tissues and organisms.

 

Competency E7: Explain how organisms sense and control their internal environment and how they respond to external stress. 

 

Learning Objectives: 

 

1.      Explain maintenance of homeostasis in living organisms by using principles of mass transport, heat transfer, energy balance, and feedback and control systems;

2.     Explain physical and chemical mechanisms used for transduction and information processing in the sensing and integration of internal and environmental signals;

3.     Explain how living organisms use internal and external defense and avoidance mechanisms to protect themselves from threats, spanning the spectrum from behavioral to structural and immunologic responses.

 

Competency E8:  Demonstrate an understanding of how the organizing principle of evolution by natural selection explains the diversity of life on earth. 

 

Learning Objectives: 

 

1.      Explain how genomic variability and mutation contribute to the success of populations;

2.     Explain how evolutionary mechanisms contribute to change in gene frequencies in populations and to reproductive isolation.

 

III.Criminal background checks are now routine

One of the sessions at the NAAHP conference in 2006 was devoted to the issue of criminal background checks.  Robert Sabalis, Associate Vice President of the Section for Student Affairs and Programs  for the Association of American Colleges gave a presentation on that subject, based on an article he wrote which was published in the June 2006 issue of The Advisor.

The AAMC started addressing the issue of criminal background checks for accepted applicants because of a number of factors:

1.     State legislatures’ consideration of statutes that would mandate such checks;

2.     Clinical institutions (hospitals, in particular) which require such checks for medical students completing clinical rotation in their facilities;

3.     Recent reports by local and national media of criminal activities involving enrolled students.

The AAMC Executive Council decided to establish criminal background checks on accepted applicants to accomplish 4 goals:

1.     To bolster the public’s continuing trust in the medical professions;

2.     To enhance the safety and well-being of patients;

3.     To ascertain the ability of accepted applicants and enrolled medical students to eventually become licensed as physicians; and

4.     To minimize the liability of medical schools and their affiliated clinical facilities.

These background checks:

·        Will be iniaited at the time of first acceptance by a medical school, or for a wait-listed applicant, at the request of a medical school admissions officer;

·        Would NOT be a component of the application, interviedw, or selection processes for medical school, but would be a mandatory component of the pre-matriculation process for each accepted applicant;

·        Would provide medical school admissions committees with a complete list of offenses and adjudications;

·        Would allow a medical school to withdraw an acceptance;

·        Would allow for the applicant to file an appeal.

At this point, approximately ¼ of the 125 AAMC-member allopathic medical schools in the United States now require some type of background screening of accepted applicants and/or enrolled students.  Furthermore, other professional schools or professional organizations representing health-related schools will be establishing their own criteria for criminal background checks.

For more information, read Sabalis, R.  (2006).  Criminal Background Checks:  Meeting the Expectations of the Public and the Needs of the Profession.  The Advisor 26(2):5-8. 

IV. Some General Recommendations

          In the July 1996 issue of Issue Focus, a publication of the Association of American Medical Colleges, there was an article regarding the qualities that medical schools are looking for in their candidates. These qualities can be applied to any other health-related profession:

How Do Medical Schools Select Tomorrow’s Doctors?

          Medical school admissions committees face the challenge each year of assembling an entering class of students who will best fulfill the mission of the school and serve the nation’s diverse population. To meet this challenge, the admissions committees select candidates based on a comprehensive review of each applicant’s total academic and personal qualifications. Among the qualifications they examine are an applicant’s:

    • scholarship
    • accomplishments
    • intellectual curiosity
    • emotional maturity
    • character
    • interest in medicine
    • sensitivity to others
    • communication skills
    • critical thinking and problem-solving skills
    • sense of caring for others, and
    • commitment to service

          Admissions committees gather much of this information from the detailed application each medical school applicant completes. These applications include a personal statement from the candidate, his/her academic, extracurricular and volunteer history, letters of recommendation, transcripts and a report of standardized test scores. Admissions committees also may interview applications to explore their qualifications further.

The Biology Department recommends that you send your application to the appropriate school or Application Service as soon as possible. All of the colleges at UT - Memphis, for example, have a "rolling admissions" policy, which means they accept people as they receive applications. Even if you are highly qualified, you may not be considered if the application is sent late. The following is a list of deadlines for the various colleges at UT - Memphis:

College of Allied Health Sciences

  • Clinical Laboratory Sciences: March 1 and September 1
  • Cytotechnology: December 15
  • Dental Hygiene: February 15
  • Health Information Management: March 1
  • Medical Technology: December 1
  • Occupational Therapy: January 15
  • Master's in Physical Therapy (entry level): January 15
  • Physical Therapy M.S. (for people who already have a BS in PT): March 1 & Sept. 1

College of Dentistry: December 31

College of Graduate Health Sciences

  • Interdisciplinary Program: March 1
  • Anatomy and Neurobiology: May 15
  • Biochemistry: March 1
  • Biomedical Engineering: May 15
  • Dental Sciences: May 15
  • Epidemiology: May 15
  • Health Science Administration: March 15
  • Microbiology: May 15
  • Nursing Ph.D.: January 15
  • Pathology: February 1
  • Pharmaceutical Sciences: March 15
  • Physiology & Biophysics: May 15

College of Nursing: January 15

College of Medicine: November 15

College of Medicine Advanced Standing (3rd Year Transfer): April 1

College of Pharmacy: February 1

     If the application service allows for your references to send letters of recommendation directly, please choose that option.  Otherwise, please fill out an Evaluation Request Form to the Director of Preprofessional Health Programs as soon as possible, in order to ensure a prompt response should you receive a request for supplementary information.  Please use the CBU preprofessional evaluation request form, which is attached at the end of this booklet.

A growing number of professional schools are subscribing to application services, which serve as a central distribution office. The applicant fills out a primary form, specifies the schools to which (s)he wants the application to go, and submits it to the central office. Copies of your file are then sent to the respective schools.

The following quote, which appeared in the October 1996 (Vol. 4, No. 1) issue of the AAMC Newsletter for Prehealth Advisors, pertains to the purpose of the secondary application, which some schools send out following receipt of the initial report from AMCAS:

"Considerable variability exists with regard to the purpose of the secondary application. At some schools, there is a desire for additional information not included on the AMCAS application. Some of the desired information may relate specifically to the individual medical school. At other schools, particularly schools with very large applicant pools, the secondary application helps to identify those who are interested enough in the school to take the time to complete the responses to special questions. At still other schools, there is an initial cut in the application pool made based on criteria set by the school and secondary applications are sent only to individuals who pass this cut. Finally, some state schools use information from the secondary application to determine whether the applicant qualifies as a resident of the state."

V.  Medicine:

 

The MCAT is undergoing changes which will be implemented starting in 2015. 

 

The Commercial Appeal ran an article, Medical college entrance test to be updated:  MCAT to include 4 parts, nix writing sample, (http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/may/16/medical-college-test-to-be-updated/ ) which describes these changes:

The new proposed exam would include four sections: one on biology, one on chemistry, one on "behavioral and social sciences principles," and a fourth on "critical analysis and reasoning skills" -- especially on the topics of "ethics and philosophy" and "cross-cultural studies."  The writing sample will be dropped from the exam. 

The incentive for these changes is an increasing awareness of the importance that nontraditional fields in medicine.  The article cites the example of published studies which link childhood trauma with adult-onset illness, or poverty and disease.

As a result, the sentiment among the AAMC’s review committee members is that physicians will need to be more broadly prepared. 

The committee also recommends ‘that the test "provide low-cost preparation materials" and "discounts or waivers on testing fees" for needy students (Coleman spent at least $200 on preparatory material, plus a $235 testing fee and another $60 fee to move her exam date from May to June). The test, which is already 51/2 hours long, will also be 90 minutes longer and nix the writing sample.’ 

For more information, go to http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/mcatschedule.htm

 

One physician’s answer to the age-old question, “Hey, I’m premed, why must I take organic chemistry?

From the HLTHPROF listserv, a reply from a retired cardiothoracic surgeon:

I would like to respond to your analysis of the usefulness of organic chemistry as a milestone in the selection process for medical school. I am a retired cardiothoracic surgeon with over twenty-five years of clinical practice. Although, on a day to day basis I clearly did not use organic chemistry per se, I did have to continue to teach and learn throughout my career. What organic chemistry demonstrates, insofar as undergraduates [are concerned], is the capacity to absorb huge amounts of information in the context of a rigorous concomitant course load. When the student matriculates at medical school, they take the equivalent of 30 to 35 credits per semester and are expected to be able to conduct excellent time management and learn all of this material. As a practicing physician, you may not use every piece of data that you had to learn in medical school, but you do need to have the capacity to apply knowledge, and continue to learn (and teach) throughout your career.

Medical schools recognize that organic chemistry helps to demonstrate these abilities as prospective applicants.  

 

My take on it?  It builds character.   

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs540.snc3/30604_124085020944862_107134639306567_201408_7897137_n.jpg




 

A.  Allopathic Medicine

          Most allopathic medical schools, including UT - Memphis, subscribe to AMCAS (American Medical College Application Service.)  Osteopathic schools of medicine use a similar application service, AACOMAS (American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine Application Service.) The application forms for the AMCAS are presently available on disk and via the web.  The disk version will be phased out by 2002 and replaced with a web-based application.

 

Number Crunching 101:  What It Takes To Get Into Selected Allopathic  Schools

 

State

School

Mean GPA

Mean VR

Mean

Writing Sample

Mean Physical Sciences

Mean Biological Sciences

Arkansas

UAMS

3.63

9.0

NA

9.0

9.0

Georgia

Emory

3.75

10.1

P

10.8

10.8

Louisiana

Tulane

3.5

10

NA

10

10

Mass.

Harvard

3.8

10.5

NA

11.7

11.8

Mississippi

U of Miss

3.65

NA

NA

NA

NA

Missouri

St.Louis U

3.68

9.4

Q

9.9

10.2

 

Wash. U

3.8

11.0

NA

12.3

12.5

Tennessee

ETSU for Fall 2011 entering class

3.5

10.0

O

9.6

10.1

 

UT Health Science Center- Mem

3.55

9

O

9

10

 

Vanderbilt

3.73

11.2

NA

11.2

11.2

 

The following table shows the number of people who applied to allopathic medical schools using the AMCAS service, the changes per year, the number of matriculants entering medical school, and the ratio of matriculants to applicants from 1992 to 2001.

Application Year

Number applying

Change since previous year (%)

Number matriculants

Change since previous year (%)

 

Ratio Matriculants/ Applicants (%)

1992

      37,402

-----------

      16,289

-------

43.6

1993

      42,806

14.45

      16,307

0.11

38.1

1994

      45,360

5.97

      16,287

-0.12

35.9

1995

      46,586

2.70

      16,253

-0.21

34.9

1996

      46,965

0.81

      16,201

-0.32

34.5

1997

      43,016

-8.41

      16,165

-0.22

37.6

1998

      40,996

-4.70

      16,170

0.03

39.4

1999

      38,443

-6.23

      16,221

0.32

42.2

2000

      37,008

-3.73

      16,301

0.49

44.0

2001

      34,860

-5.80

      16,365

0.39

46.9

2002

      33,625

-3.54

      16,488

0.75

49.0

2003

      34,791

3.47

      16,541

0.32

47.5

2004

      35,735

2.71

      16,648

0.65

46.6

2005

      37,372

4.58

      17,003

2.13

45.5

2006

      39,108

4.65

      17,361

2.11

44.4

2007

      42,315

8.20

      17,753

2.26

42.0

2008

      42,231

-0.20

      18,036

1.59

42.7

2009

      42,269

0.09

      18,390

1.96

43.5

 

 

College of Medicine (UT - Memphis):

What They Want

# of Hours

What We Call It @ CBU

Biology w/Lab

8

BIOL 111 Lec & Lab

BIOL 112 Lec & Lab

General Chemistry

8

CHEM 113 Lec & Lab

CHEM 114 Lec & Lab

Organic Chemistry

8

CHEM 211 Lec & Lab

CHEM 212 Lec & Lab

Physics

8

PHYS 201 Lec & Lab

PHYS 202 Lec & Lab

English/Literature*

6

ENG 111

ENG 112

Electives

52

Free to choose

*” Facility in the use of both oral and written English is considered highly essential to the successful study of medicine. Introductory freshman English (six semester hours) will meet the admission requirement. Students who qualify for advanced placement credit in English will not be required to take additional English courses, although such students are encouraged to do so.”

 

Some courses that may be worth taking in the relatively sheltered undergraduate environment: 

 

Biology

·        Vertebrate Embryology (BIOL 211)

·        Medical and Scientific Terminology (BIOL 213)

·        Genetics (BIOL 311)

·        Microbiology (BIOL 321)

·        Animal Histology (BIOL 414)

·        Immunology (BIOL 415)

·        Cell/Molecular Biology (BIOL 421)

 

Chemistry

·        Biochemistry (CHEM 315 & 316)

 

Other

·        Economics of Health and Healthcare (ECON 323)

·        Literature (virtually any upper-level English course)

·        Personal Finance (FIN 346)

·        Foreign language (especially Spanish)

·        Medical Ethics (PHIL 322)

 

 

 

 

          Admissions to all professional schools is extremely competitive.  For example, the following data pertains to the College of Medicine at UT - Memphis and the James Quillen School of Medicine at East Tennessee State University:

 

 

University of Tennessee Health Science Center

East Tennessee State University

University of Arkansas College of Medicine

Application cycle

# of Applicants

# of Available spaces

# of Applicants

# of Available Spaces

# of Applicants

# of Available spaces

1993-1994

896

165

1898

60

 

 

1994-1995

2320

165 (1st year of AMCAS)

2232

 

 

60

 

 

1995-1996

2337

165

2090

60

890

150

1996-1997

1959

165

1826

60

906

150

1997-1998

1767

165

1570

60

757

150

1998-1999

1700

165

1574

60

664

150

1999-2000

1637

165

1464

60

560

150

2000-2001

1529

150

1131

60

673

150

2001-2002

1600

150

1144

60

755

150

2002-2003

1354

150

1033

60

675

150

2003-2004

1268

150

995

60

693

150

2004-2005

1051

150

1187

60

694

150

2005-2006

1268

150

1225

60

949

160

2006-2007

1477

150

1449

60

1249

160

2007-2008

n.a.

n.a.

1641

60

1542

160

2008-2009

1353

165

1445

66

1714

174

2009-2010

1345

165

1586

60

2119

174

2010-2011

1302

165

1658

60

2163

174

 

 

          The College of Medicine at the University of Tennessee - Memphis is a well-respected institution.  In 1999, U.S. News & World Report ranked UT 15th among the nation’s comprehensive medical schools.  The UT - Campbell Clinic Department of Orthopaedic Surgery was ranked 10th in the national among orthopedic surgery departments.  The department is one of two in the South ranked in the top 10.  Furthermore, few medical schools can match UT’s richness of opportunities for clinical experience.  UT is affiliated with a number of teaching hospitals, including Baptist Memorial, Methodist Hospital, the Regional Medical Center and UT Bowld Hospital.  Students and residents also receive experience in five other area hospitals, five clinics and two surgical centers.  

 

          As you can see, Admissions Departments will have no difficulty in filling the available spaces with qualified students.  The challenge to you is to present yourself as well as possible:

          1) Try to find work, either as a paid employee or as a volunteer, in a clinic, practice, or hospital in your field of interest.  That way, you can demonstrate to the Admissions Committee members that you know what you're getting yourself into, and you want it;

          2) Visit the schools.  This is not difficult if you're interested in a program at UT - Memphis, but what about the Quillen School of Medicine at East Tennessee State University?  My opinion is that you will make a favorable impression on them if you make the effort in driving the 500+ miles to see the campus.  (Doug Taylor, Assistant Dean of Admissions, has mentioned that if you drove north the same distance that you would have to drive east to reach ETSU, you'd get to Canada first);

          3) Submit your application as soon as possible, as discussed above;

          4) Do some kind of preparation for the aptitude test.  This may mean enrolling in a Kaplan study course, or working through a book on your own.  You may not learn any more than you already know, but it helps to organize your thoughts and to take exams;

          5) Create for yourself a more professional-sounding e-mail address.  Here's what Adam Pack, PHP Director at Utica College in New York had to say on the subject: "People who certainly CAN benefit from a two address system are the students with email addresses like (none of these are made up - the information after the '@' is deleted to protect their anonymity) "village_idiot", "SweetSexxxtoy", "XXXgurl", and others. At my gentle suggestion, they now have a second, more professional-sounding address with which to correspond with grad schools and my committee..."

How important is it to be prompt in the submission of your AMCAS application and evaluation request form?  Here's a timeline for applicants applying to medical school from the Admissions Office of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center:

What you should be doing

When you should finish doing it

AMCAS Application

  • Electronic Application only - apply through AMCAS ®

5 June 2007

AMCAS Application Deadline

15 November 2007

Processing of AMCAS Application Materials

  • Applicants are screened
  • Supplemental applications are mailed to competitive candidates and NOT to everyone who submits an AMCAS application

June 2007 through January 2008

Notification of Interviews

  • Applicants granted an interview are notified in writing
  • Interviews are conducted on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

September 2007 through February 2008

Pre-professional Evaluation Deadline

  • Submit one pre-medical advisory committee evaluation (where such a committee exists) or three letters from individual faculty members

1 March 2008, depending on when you receive a secondary application

Admissions Committee Decision

  • Meetings are held on Friday afternoons
  • Decisions are mailed on a rolling basis

October 2007 through March 2008

Deadline to Receive Notification of Admissions Committee Decisions

1.     Final decisions completed and remaining applicants notified in writing

1 April 2008

Applicants Who are Not Offered Admission

  • Unsuccessful applicants can meet with the Assistant Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs to discuss reapplication
  • Reapplicants must apply through AMCAS for admission

April 2008 through August 2008

College of Medicine Scholarship Selection

February 2008 through March 2008

Financial Aid Priority Deadline

  • Submit Free Application for Student Aid (FAFSA)

End of February 2008

Deadline to Withdraw Acceptance

  • Official notification must be in writing to request refund of $100 deposit

15 May 2008

Final Official Transcript Deadline

  • Responsibility of accepted applicants to contact the Registrar of each College/University attended to forward official transcripts of course work to the Office of Enrollment Services
  • All transcripts must include verification of degree, if a degree has been awarded.

31 July 2008

 

 

Some Useful Sources of Information regarding Allopathic Medical Schools:

 

Association of American Medical Colleges

<http://www.aamc.org/>

 

Schools in the Mid-South (Address Inquiries To):

Arkansas

Office of Student Admissions

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

College of Medicine                                                        

4301 West Markham Street, Slot 551                          

Little Rock, Arkansas  72205-7199                    

(501)   686-5354; 686-5873 (FAX)

E-Mail:  SouthTomG@uams.edu

Web site:  http://www.uams.edu

Contact people:

Tom South, Assistant Dean, Medical Student Admissions and Financial Aid
Linda DuPuy, Director of Medical Student Admissions and Recruitment

 

Mississippi

Chairman, Admissions Committee

University of Mississippi

School of Medicine                                                         

2500 North State Street                                                

Jackson, Mississippi  39216-4505                            

(601)   984-5010;  984-5008  (FAX)                     

http://www.usmsed.edu

Contact person:  Dr. Steven T. Case, Chairman, Admissions Committee

 

Tennessee

Assistant Dean for Admissions and Records

East Tennessee State University                                

James H. Quillen College of Medicine                 

P.O. Box 70580                                                               

Johnson City, TN  37614-0580                                             

(423) 929-6221;  929-6616 (FAX)

E-mail:  sacom@etsu.edu

http://qcom.etsu.edu

Contact person:  Edwin Taylor, Assistant Dean for Admissions & Records

 

Director, Admissions and Records

Meharry Medical College                                              

1005 D.B. Todd Boulevard                                         

Nashville, TN  37208                                                     

(615) 327-6223;  327-6228  (FAX)

http://www.mmc.edu

Contact person:  Allen D. Mosley, Director, Admissions and Records

 

University of Tennessee - Memphis

College of Medicine                                                        

790 Madison Avenue                                                     

Memphis, TN  38163-2166                                         

 (901) 448-5559; 448-7255 (FAX)                      

http://www.utmem.edu/medicine

Contact person:  Nelson Strother, Assistant Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs

                  

Office of Admissions

209 Light Hall

Vanderbilt University                                                    

School of Medicine                                                         

Nashville, TN  37232-0685                                         

(615) 322-2145;   343-8397 (FAX)                     

E-Mail:  medsch.admis@mcmail.vanderbilt.edu

Web Site:  http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/medschool

Contact person:  Dr. John Lukens, Chairman, Committee for Admissions

 

Other relatively nearby medical schools:

Missouri

Washington University School of Medicine

Office of Admissions                                           

Campus Box 8077                                                        

660 South Euclid Avenue

St. Louis, MO  63110-1093

(314)   362-6844    FAX:  (314) 362-4658

E-Mail:  wumscoa@msnotes.wustl.edu

Web Site:  http://medschool.wustl.edu/admissions/

Contact person:  Dr. W. Edwin Dodson, Assoc. Dean

 

B.   Osteopathic Medicine

 

The following comparison between osteopathic and allopathic medicine appears in "Mind/Body/Spirit", a brochure distributed by the Kirksville (MO) College of Osteopathic Medicine:

 

"Osteopathic physicians (D.O.s and allopathic physicians (M.D.s) are the only two types of complete physicians.  They are both fully trained and licensed to prescribe medication and perform surgery.

 

The similarities include the following:

·        Applicants to both D.O. and M.D. colleges have a four-year undergraduate degree with an emphasis on science courses.

·        Both D.O.s and M.D.s complete four years of basic medical education.

·        After medical school, both D.O.s and M.D.s can choose to practice any area of medicine after completing an internship and residency program.

·        Both D.O.s and M.D.s must pass national and state licensing examinations.

·        D.O.'s and M.D.s practice together in accredited hospitals and centers.

·         D.O.s and M.D.s both take educational courses annually.

·         Most osteopathic and allopathic medical schools use the MCAT as part of their admissions criteria.

 

The differences include the following:

·        Osteopathic medical schools graduate more students who become primary care physicians.

·        D.O.s practice a "whole person" approach to medicine.  Instead of just treating specific symptoms or illnesses, they regard the body as an integrated whole.

·        Osteopathic physicians focus on preventive health care.

·        D.O.s receive more training in the musculoskeletal system- the body's interconnected system of nerves, muscles, and bones.  This training provides osteopathic physicians with a better understanding of the ways that an injury or illness in one part of the body can affect another.

·        Osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) is incorporated in the training and practice of osteopathic physicians.  With OMT, osteopathic physicians can also use their hands to diagnose injury and illness and encourage the body's natural tendency toward good health.  By combining all other medical procedures with OMT, D.O.s offer their patients the most comprehensive care available in medicine today."

 

From An Introduction to Osteopathic Medical Education, a brochure distributed by the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine:

 

Osteopathic medicine is a distinctive form of medical care founded on the philosophy that all body systems are interrelated and dependent upon one another for good health. This philosophy was developed in 1874 by Dr. Andrew Taylor Still, who helped pioneer the concept of "wellness" and recognized the importance of treating illness within the context of the whole body. Based on this philosophy, Dr. Still opened the first osteopathic medical college in Kirksville, Missouri in 1892. 

 

Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.s) provide comprehensive medical care to patients in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and must pass a national and/or state medical board examination in order to obtain a license to practice osteopathic medicine.

 

Osteopathic physicians use all of the tools available to modern medicine including prescription medicine and surgery.  They also incorporate a hands-on system of diagnosis and treatment known as osteopathic manipulative medicine into patient care as appropriate.  These techniques are used to relieve pain, restore range of motion and enhance the body's natural capacity to heal.

 

Currently, there are approximately 52,000 D.O.s practicing in the United States.  Reflecting the osteopathic philosophy of treating the whole person, 65% of all D.O.s serve in the primary care areas of family medicine, general internal medicine and general pediatrics, often establishing their practices in medically underserved areas.

 

Today, there are 25 colleges of osteopathic medicine that train future physicians to provide holistic, full-spectrum health care.

 

For information on applying to the colleges of osteopathic medicine, please visit the association's web site at www.aacom.org .

 

"To find health should be the object of the doctor, anyone can find disease."  -- Andrew Taylor Still, founder of osteopathic medicine.

 

 

Factoids About Selected Osteopathic Medical Schools:  2010-2011 Enrollment

 

Name of Institution

AACOMAS Applications received

First-Year Enrollment

Total Enrollment

A.T. Still University – Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine  Kirksville, MO

 

 

3,478

 

 

177

 

 

701

University of Health Sciences - Kansas City, MO

 

 

3,052

 

 

244

 

 

985

West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, Lewisburg

 

 

3,384

 

 

219

 

 

811

Pikeville College of Osteopathic Medicine, Pikeville, KY

 

 

2,513

 

 

83

 

 

304

DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine, Harrogate, TN

2,616

168

620

 

 

Courses Required by the Selected Osteopathic Schools Mentioned Above

 

Kirksville - Kirksville, MO

University of Health Sciences - Kansas City, MO

West Virginia - Lewisburg

Pikeville - Pikeville, KY

DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine

 

# of Required Hours

English Comp

6

6

6

6

8

8

6

General Chem

8

8

8

8

8

Organic Chem

8

8*

8

8

8

Physics

8

8*

8

8

8

Biological Sci

8

12

8

12

8

Minimum # of hours

90

90

90

90

Not specified

Biochemistry

 

3

 

 

 

Genetics

 

3

 

 

 

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) prior to matriculation

 

 

 

ü

 

 

 

*A total of 16 hours in chemistry are required, of which 3 must be biochemistry.

 

 

Grade point Averages and Average (Mean) Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) Scores (Quantitative sections) for Entering Students

 

 

Year

 

2008

2009

2010

GPA

 

 

 

·        Science

3.39

3.35

3.36

·        Non-science

3.58

3.58

3.57

·        Overall Mean

3.48

3.48

3.47

MCAT

 

 

 

·        Biological Science

9.13

9.22

9.29

·        Physical Science

8.40

8.38

8.51

·        Verbal Reasoning

8.59

8.59

8.69

 

 

 

Contact people for regional Osteopathic Schools:

 

DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine

Office of Admissions

LMU-DCOM

Attn: Admissions

6965 Cumberland Gap Parkway

Harrogate, TN 37752

phone: 1.800.325.0900 ext. 7090
Internet:  http://www.lmunet.edu/DCOM/index.htm

email: dcomadmissions@lmunet.edu
fax: 423.869.7172

 

Kirksville College