Post-Bac's change the face of Medical Schools

After college, many graduates struggle to find the right career path. After pursuing different avenues, they may discover that they want to do something for which they did not take the appropiate courses in college. Facing a tough job market, many decide to apply to medical school. But for those who have yet to take their pre-med requirements like Organic Chemistry, more and more universities, including Johns Hopkins, are offering Post-bacalaureate programs. Between one and two years in length, these programs allow college graduates to fulfill all pre-med courses they did not take in college, before they apply to medical school.

This growing trend is taking the world of medical school admissions by storm. Medical schools are accepting more and more students from "non-traditional" backgrounds, like those who are not fresh out of college. These "non-traditional" students have not applied to medical school right after receiving their bachelor's degrees for a variety of reasons.

The Post-bacalaureate Premedical (post-bac) Program at Johns Hopkins University is designed to give its members the necessary requirements and experiences needed to gain entrance into medical school. It is designed solely for students who have not completed their premedical requirements during their undergraduate studies, i.e., a year of biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, physics and calculus, including labs. In fact, the majority of the 29 students enrolled in the program were liberal arts majors who had not taken many science courses or those who had pursued a different career path before deciding to become a doctor.

Post-bac student Ally Parnes, who majored in entrepreneurial management at the University of Pennsylvania, always wanted to become a doctor but chose an economics major and did not take premedical classes in college.

"I thought that perhaps I'd narrowed my career search too early, and that an education in business would be a good foundation for any career I ended up choosing," she said.

She ended up reverting back to medicine, and thus applied to the Hopkins program to fulfill the necessary science requirements.

One of the prerequisites of the Hopkins program is that entrants have an undergraduate degree. Some of the post-bac students, however, have done graduate work well beyond a bachelor's degree.

Kathleen Bronson, a post-bac student who graduated from Villanova, worked as a Surgical Critical Care nurse at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and gained practical medical experience before joining the program. Her work inspired her to join the post-bac program in pursuit of becoming a physician. She feels she has made the right choice.

"It is a huge [gamble], giving up a steady and rewarding job, to go to school full-time and re-accumulate debt and having the risk of applying to medical schools. But I am so happy that I did this and know that I am learning so much," she said.

The program is directed by David Trabilsy, a former Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Admissions Director and Assistant Dean. Trabilsy designed and instituted the program at Hopkins in 2001, making it one of the newer post-bac programs in the country. It is quickly gaining recognition, however, as indicated by the increasing number of applicants.

Candice-Carmel Blagmon, a post-bac student and graduate of U.C. Berkeley, chose the Hopkins program over the similar ones at Harvard, Columbia and the University of Southern California because the Hopkins program is "the most structured and close-knit." One of the biggest incentives of the Hopkins program is the personal guidance provided by Trabilsy and Candice Kidwell, the program's coordinator. Many post-bac students agree that the duo's guidance and support is what makes the Hopkins program exceptional.

"Candy and Dave are great advisors and they are very understanding and proactive. Candy even invited the entire program to her house for a crab feast! And Dave even makes personal check-in phone calls occasionally. You really feel cared about," said Blagmon.

Kidwell also displays the camaraderie of the entire program.

"I am personally very proud of each and every one of the students selected to the Hopkins Post-bac Premed Program. It is truly a privilege and pleasure to know these "future physicians.' "

Another plus of the Hopkins program is that Hopkins offers a multi-dimensional program, beyond just the course requirements. The post-bac students participate in medical tutorials at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and they also have monthly post-bac dinner meetings with guest speakers, designed to provide more information and discussion concerning the medical world.

The requirements for gaining entry into the program are as rigorous, if not more so, than gaining entry into the Hopkins undergraduate school. The admissions committee usually only accept applicants who are most likely to get into medical school after completing the requisite courses at Hopkins. This means their undergraduate and any graduate records must be excellent. The average undergraduate GPA of the two classes (2001 and 2002) of post-bac students is well above a 3.5. The admissions committee also looks at the applicants' SAT, ACT or GRE scores while making their evaluations.

However, every premed student knows that good grades alone don't guarantee medical school admission. Therefore, to be considered for the program, the post-bac applicants must have had extensive experience with the medical world, enough to prove that they really, really want to become doctors. During the required interview with the admissions staff, they must further display their knowledge, and genuine interest, concerning the medical career.

"Besides a successful academic record, we look for well-rounded, talented, compassionate and motivated applicants who not only articulate their passion to want to become doctors, but in many cases have "tested' that desire," said Kidwell.

So once accepted, how are the post-bac students handling the Hopkins' grind of premed courses? Though some undergraduate students blame post-bac students for raising the average grades on exams, and thus shifting the bell curve, the post-bac students do not find Hopkins science courses to be easy. Parnes, who took some of the premed courses over the summer like many other post-bac students thought, "The summer session was much more difficult than [she] anticipated due to the extremely accelerated nature of the classes."

"The classes are very intense and while I knew [they] would be very challenging and time-consuming, I didn't realize the large amounts of time that would be required. I now feel that all I do is study," said Bronson. Blagmon, when asked for her study tips, said, "I used to go to the library, but apparently that is the hip hang-out spot for all the cool Hopkins scholars. So now, I just stay home, unplug the TV and phone, and study."

To sum up the merits of the Hopkins program, post-bac student Sam Damren, a philosophy major from De Paul University, explains, "The unique character of a post-bac program is that it allows students to augment their formative education and creates a very well-rounded academic experience. Even if I realized during my undergrad studies that I wanted to pursue medicine, I would still elect to apply to a post-bac program because it grants me so many more opportunities to investigate the field without compromising the attention I would otherwise necessarily allocate to my other academic studies and graduation requirements." Hear that, undergrad premed students? Devoting undergraduate work to liberal arts and opting to attend a post-bac program after graduation is a viable alternative for all undergraduate students who desire to become physicians.

Check http://www.jhu.edu/postbacc for more information about the Hopkins Post-bac Premed Program.

Post-Bac's change the face of Medical Schools

Medical schools are accepting more and more students from "non-traditional" backgrounds, like those who are not fresh out of college.