About Us

This is an exciting time to enter the health professions. Changes in society create a need for health professionals with a strong background in natural, behavioral, and social sciences, as well as the humanities.

Over the past few years, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) have reviewed the framework needed for premedical training and the lifelong training needed for medical school and practice. They issued a report, “Scientific Foundations for Future Physicians,” outlining the scientific and quantitative competencies that premedical students should master as well as a companion report, "Behavioral and Social Science Foundations for Future Physicians," indicating that the conceptual framework in these disciplines that premedical and medical students need to understand socioeconomic and cultural determinates of health and to address health care disparities.

Drawing upon this extensive research by several advisory panels, AAMC’s Group on Student Affairs and Committee on Admissions endorsed 15 core competencies for entering medical schools.  AAMC defines competency as an “observable behavior that combines knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes related to a specific activity.” Although medical educators developed this list of fifteen competencies, it is relevant for all health professions. 

We recommend that all those considering health professions: 

• Visit the AAMC website to review the list of competencies.
• Review AAMC’s Self-Assessment Guide, “Anatomy of an Applicant: Competency Resources and Self-Assessment Guide for Medical School Applicants.   
• We urge students to consider these competencies when making decisions about courses, potential experiential learning experiences, community service, health-related service in research, and clinical care. Students can meet with the Health Professions Advisor to reflect on the competencies they are developing through these activities.  
• The Health Professions Advisor can help students prepare a portfolio to track and reflect on their progress and begin to frame this information in ways that would be useful when applying to health professions schools.   

The 15 Core Competencies for Entering Medical Students have been endorsed by the AAMC Group on Student Affairs (GSA) Committee on Admissions (COA) and are listed below:

Pre-Professional Competencies (combining interpersonal and intrapersonal competencies):

• Service Orientation: Demonstrates a desire to help others and sensitivity to others’ needs and feelings; demonstrates a desire to alleviate others’ distress; recognizes and acts on his/her responsibilities to society, locally, nationally, and globally.
• Social Skills: Demonstrates an awareness of others’ needs, goals, feelings, and how social and behavioral cues affect people’s interactions and behaviors; adjusts behaviors appropriately in response to these cues; treats others respectfully.
• Cultural Competence: Demonstrates knowledge of socio-cultural factors that affect interactions and behaviors; shows an appreciation and respect for multiple dimensions of diversity; recognizes and acts on the obligation to inform one’s judgment; engages diverse and competing perspectives as a resource for learning, citizenship, and work; recognizes and appropriately addresses bias in themselves and others; interacts effectively with people from diverse backgrounds.
• Teamwork: Works collaboratively to achieve shared goals; shares information and knowledge with others and provides feedback; puts team goals ahead of individual goals.
• Oral Communication: Effectively conveys information to others using spoken words and sentences; listens effectively; recognizes potential communication barriers and adjusts approach or clarifies information as needed.
• Ethical Responsibility to Self and Others: Behaves honestly and ethically; cultivates personal and academic integrity; adheres to ethical principles and follows rules and procedures; resists peer pressure to engage in unethical behavior and encourages others to behave in honest and ethical ways; develops and demonstrates ethical and moral reasoning.
• Reliability and Dependability: Consistently fulfills obligations promptly and satisfactorily; takes responsibility for personal actions and performance.
• Resilience and Adaptability: Demonstrates tolerance of stressful or changing environments or situations and adapts effectively to them; is persistent, even under difficult situations; recovers from setbacks.
• Capacity for Improvement: Sets goals for continuous improvement and learning new concepts and skills; engages in reflective practice for improvement; solicits and responds appropriately to feedback.

Thinking and Reasoning Competencies

• Critical Thinking: Uses logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
• Quantitative Reasoning: Applies quantitative reasoning and appropriate mathematics to describe or explain phenomena in the natural world.
• Scientific Inquiry: Applies knowledge of the scientific process to integrate and synthesize information, solve problems, and formulate research questions and hypotheses; is facile in the language of the sciences and uses it to participate in the discourse of science and explain how scientific knowledge is discovered and validated.
• Written Communication: Effectively conveys information to others using written words and sentences.

Science Competencies

• Living Systems: Applies knowledge and skill in the natural sciences to solve problems related to molecular and macro systems, including biomolecules, molecules, cells, and organs.
• Human Behavior: Applies knowledge of the self, others, and social systems to solve problems related to the psychological, socio-cultural, and biological factors that influence health and well-being.

The Bryn Mawr tradition of self-governance promotes students as leaders for extracurricular activities and organizations and this is evident in the prehealth community. Undergraduates direct several organizations related to the health professions. In recent years prehealth students have been instrumental in organizing volunteers for hospice programs and visitors for nursing home residents and inpatient hospital units. Visit Student Activities to view current student groups.

Pre-Health Society

The Pre-Health Society is for all students interested in careers in the health professions. In recent years, Pre-Health Society activities have included student panels to discuss summer internships, fundraisers for the American Cancer Society and talks by outside speakers who work in health care. There is no official procedure for joining the Pre-Health Society; if the organization plans an event that interests you, you are welcome to participate. The Pre-Health Society announces their events over the Pre-Health Listserv so be sure to sign up for these email announcements.

Health Interest Programming (HIP)

The Health Professions Advising Office supports undergraduate and postbac premed students who collaborate to develop programming related to healthcare. This provides a great opportunity for prehealth students on campus to get together and share perspectives and expertise. Examples of recent HIP programming include: hosting speakers or panel discussions on campus, viewing movies or documentaries, organizing brown bag discussions on compelling topics, and sponsoring experiential workshops (e.g., a hike to learn wilderness first aid techniques).

2017-18 HIP Topics

• Addiction and Substance Abuse

• Bioethics

• Emergency and Wilderness Medicine

• Global Health

• Health Disparities/Social Determinants of Health

• Health Industry and Policy

• Infectious Diseases

• Pediatrics/Adolescent Medicine

• Psychiatry/Mental Health

• Sports Medicine/Orthopedics

• Surgery

• Women's Health

Important Information for International Students

While admission to medical, dental, and veterinary school can be challenging for even the most highly qualified students, international students who are not U.S. permanent residents face additional challenges. It is extremely difficult for someone who is not a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident to secure a place in medical, dental or veterinary school as well as many other health professional schools. Many of these schools will not consider applications from non-U.S. citizens.  

In recent years, only 1 percent of the 19,000 students entering medical school nationally were not U.S. citizens. Information about which U.S. medical schools accept international students can be found in the Medical School Admissions Requirements (MSAR) (online access can be purchased from the AAMC).

The medical schools that will consider applications without regard to citizenship will usually require accepted international applicants to pay their tuition up front; sometimes requiring as much as four years’ tuition to be paid in advance of starting medical school. The cost of a four year medical education ranges from $150,000 to $250,000. Because non U.S. citizens are not eligible for U.S. government loans and other U.S. government-sponsored financial aid, the “up-front payment” requirement can make it very difficult for an international student to pay for medical school.

The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) prepared some relevant information, “Applying to Medical School as an International Applicant: information for international applicants to U.S. medical schools.” 

Note: For admissions purposes most medical schools do not differentiate between U.S. citizens and non-citizens who are permanent residents.

The Health Professions Advising Office will provide support and assistance to all alumnae/i—regardless of the number of years since graduation—in person, over the phone or via Skype, and to answer questions over email. For alumnae/i just getting started in the medical school application process, a good first step is to review the information on this website and then schedule an initial advising appointment. Contact Gail Glicksman for an appointment, or by calling 610-526-7350.

Medical schools and other health professions training programs are interested in cultivating a diverse student body and faculty. They are concerned to increase the participation of individuals underrepresented in health care and in the biomedical sciences as a way to meet society's needs for culturally competent care to improve health and to promote health equity. This diversity can take many shapes. There are a number of racial and ethnic populations that are underrepresented in the health professions relative to their numbers in the general population. Increasingly, health professions programs are expanding their understanding of diversity to include first-generation college students or those who grew up in challenging financial or social situations, and individuals with disabilities of various kinds.

Students from groups that are underrepresented in medicine should be aware that there are opportunities available, including:

• Summer academic programs
• Summer research programs
• Postbaccalaureate programs designed to prepare students for the MCAT and to provide opportunities to demonstrate ability in the sciences

Inspiration

Students interested in any health professions might find inspiration in reading the narratives of individuals from a variety of backgrounds who have made the journey to medicine. Readers can filter these to find models of students who have broken through barriers, or overcome illness, or faced other challenges on their path to medicine. 

Summer Health Professions Education Program

Summer Health Professions Education Program (SHPEP) is a free, six-week summer enrichment program that offers eligible students intensive exposure to resources to explore and to prepare for health professions schools. Eligible students include, but are not limited to, individuals who identify as African American/Black, American Indian, Alaska Native, Hispanic/Latino, or who are from communities of socioeconomic or educational disadvantage.

Diversity in Dentistry

According to information from the American Dental Association (ADA), there is critical need to increase the representation of minority dentists. "There is a critical need in many underserved communities where minority and disadvantaged people are not getting the care they need. Only 12 percent of students entering dental school are minorities, while minorities make up 25 percent of the general population. Recent data shows that minority dentists treat a very high number of minority patients." (Source: "Be a Dentist," ADA)

Diversity in the Veterinary Field

The Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges’ DiVersity Matters initiative describes the AAVMC's programs to foster diversity within the veterinary profession. 

Schedule an appointment with Dean Glicksman to discuss these opportunities: gglicksman@brynmawr.edu