BLACKSBURG, Va. – Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine is helping undergraduates who know they want to go to medical school have a competitive edge.
It’s currently accepting students for its Early Identification Program now until February.
Six undergraduates who are rising juniors and seniors can take the program during two summer sessions. It only accepts three students each semester.
In the first ten-week session, young adults will participate in research at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute and receive guidance on how to prepare for the MCAT exam. During the second session, which is six weeks, students do clinical rotations. They also take MCAT prep classes and have personalized application reviews.
Associate Dean of Admissions Melanie Prusakowski said the program has been extremely successful.
“We’ve had students matriculate in medical school, in dental school. A student who has been participating in an MD-PHD program and in addition to that participants who have been involved in medical research,” said Prusakowski.
She also said the program is intended for undergraduates who want to go to medical school.
“We believe that medicine needs to reflect its community and we are excited to have the opportunity to really develop some new opportunities for diversity candidates who are undergraduates who know that medicine is their dream and want to make that happen for themselves,” said Prusakowski.
Going to medical school is extremely competitive. In fact, at Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, it receives more than 5,000 applications, with less than 55 students typically being accepted.
For the program students also receive stipends and are provided with free room and board.
Karim Abouelenein, who is a junior at Virginia Tech, just finished the first semester of the program. He said he wants to be a heart surgeon and go straight to med school.
“I learned a lot of different skills. We had these weekly classes. For me specifically, it was about heart-related instruments. So, I learned how MRIS works. I learned how echocardiograms work. So, in that aspect of research, you learn a lot of new things that you wouldn’t have learned otherwise,” said Abouelenein.
Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine also has other programs helping to get kids interested in the medical field.
“We have outreach to high school students in Danville, in the Blacksburg area, and in the Roanoke area who can come and spend a day learning about our medical school. Seeing some of the different technical modalities that we use like ultrasound as a means of sparking their interests.”
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