Introduction to Health Professions Advising Jessica Ifft, MA Coordinator Health Professions Advising

Agenda  Who is HPA?  Pre-Health Students  Advising  Pieces of the Pie  Collaboration  Questions

Health Professions Advising Staff Staff Members and Roles  Joanne Snapp, MS  Director  SLB 1011  Jessica Ifft, MA  Coordinator  SLB 1013  Karyn Kershaw  Student Assistant and Pre-Med Peer Advisor

About Our Office

Our Approach: Holistic Advising  What is Holistic Advising?  Providing guidance or advice that takes into consideration the unique needs of the student  Why?  No two students are alike  Every student has his/her own path, that may not parallel their classmate’s  Transfer students vs. non-transfer students  What that means for the student  They may get advice tailored to their particular situation  We will encourage, guide, and work alongside the student to get to their destination no matter what their situation is

Services  Programming  Group advising  One-on-one advising  Review of purpose statements  Reviews of applications  Outreach

Pre-Health Students Who identifies as a Pre-Health Student?

Pre-Health Students Who is a Pre-Health Student?  Anyone considering going into a health related profession  There is no required major or minor  Students can sign up to be “pre-health” on our website

Common Health Fields Students are Typically Seeking  Allopathic Medicine  Osteopathic Medicine  Dentistry  Nursing  Clinical Lab Sciences  Pharmacy  Chiropractic Medicine  Public Health  Physician Assistant  Optometry  Doctor of Physical Therapy  Veterinary Medicine  Genetic Counseling  Occupational Therapy  Naturopathic Medicine  Allied Health Fields

Advising Sessions Information we provide to students

Topics Covered We discuss with the student:  Study skills  Pre-requisites  Tests  Experience  Building relationships with faculty  Letters of recommendation  How to apply  Purpose statements  More

Advising Sheets We have an advising sheet for each commonly asked for health related field.

Common Question: What are the pre-requisites for __________? Every school has their own set of pre-requisites. Some may overlap, while others will be unique to a particular school  We advise students to use the advising sheets as a tool  A huge part of the process is individual research  We want our students to receive the guidance, yet understand their level of responsibility  Every institution will list their pre-requisites and application requirements on their websites. If it’s ambiguous, we advise contacting the institution to gain more clarity  Creating their own version of an “advising sheet” is helpful to most students

Course List When choosing courses, schools are looking at the units taken and title of course Transfer students may have some concerns about they took articulating with pre- requisites or counting toward pre-requisites. At that time, please have them contact an HPA advisor

Pieces of the Pie What professional and graduate schools are looking for when students apply

Pieces of the Pie Holistic Review  Metrics  Grades  Test Scores  Experiences  Meaningful Experiences  What do you WANT to do?  Clinical Experience  Attributes  Characteristics  Who are you?

Common Questions about: Metrics  While the list of averages can be daunting to look at, students should concentrate on the range  High test scores + high GPA does not = entrance  On the flip side, all the experience in the world will not make up for a poor GPA Experiences  Clinical and hands-on experience is needed  Shadowing  Interning  Paid/non-paid hours  Meaningful experiences  What do you want to do?  Avoid being a “checklist” applicant  Focus less on doing things to please the school of interest  Showing you can be a leader and team-player

Additional Requirement Letters of Recommendation  Quality letters vs. quantity  Some fields may want science professors only  Other requirements may apply  Students need to build genuine relationships early  Authors required will vary

Collaboration Working together to meet the same goal

Collaboration Feel free to us with questions or connect about a collaboration Contact Information  Joanne Snapp, MS   Jessica Ifft, MA 

Thank you for attending! Questions?