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Kirkland Premed Page

Main contact email for premed advising: k.premed at gmail.com

Resident Tutors in Medicine: Mai Anh Huynh, JiYeon Kim, Ana Weil

Resident Tutors with Secondary Advising in Medicine: Lydia Gardner (pre-dental), Eric Twerdahl, Dorothy Weiss

Additional (great) resources at the OCS Health and Medicine website!

General Info & Announcements:

Kirkland Premed Office Hours: every Wednesday 9:00-10:00pm in the dining hall

General Information about Kirkland Premed Advising (Word document)

Choosing medicine means you'll have a long road ahead of you (i.e. 4 yrs med school, 3-5+ yrs residency, 1-3+ yrs fellowship), so make sure you do your homework and know what you are getting into! Read about the profession, get involved in shadowing or volunteer experiences in medicine, have conversations with your family, friends, and advisors about the decision.

Announcements:

• Our fall premed meeting just took place on September 30, 2009. We have posted all the documents from the meeting on this website (see below).
• The OCS (Office of Career Services) hosts fall workshops, and has additional advising hours during the school year. Please see the OCS premed website for the most up-to-date information. 
• We will be posting details for our October MedTalk soon.
• First deadline for new applicants (submitting AMCAS 6/2010): PIF due by email Nov 6th

Myth-busters:

Myth 1. I have to go straight from college to medical school. Most students take on average 1-3 years off between college and medical school, and the activities that our alumni pursue often result in even stronger medical school applications. Feel free to discuss this option with us during office hours.

Myth 2. I have to choose a science concentration or do basic science research. Apart from taking the common premedical requirements, you can do the bulk of your coursework in any department of your choice. In fact, about half of a medical school class is composed of non-science majors. You can also do research in any area of your interest (including humanities, social sciences, clinical medicine, etc.). Studying what you enjoy, rather than something you feel obligated to do, can also result in improved grades and better evaluations.

Myth 3. My GPA is so low that I should just give up now. Grades are just one component of the overall application, which includes your clinical experience, extracurriculars/work experiences, MCATs, letters of recommendation, personal statement, etc. Although getting good grades in both science and non-science classes is important to show medical schools that you can handle the academic courseload, demonstrating an upward trajectory in your grades is always helpful (so keep working hard!). There are also post-graduate academic studies that you can enroll in to demonstrate that you can handle a rigorous program of study. If you have more questions, come and talk with us about this during office hours.