Research/Pre-Med

Colleges and Universities A-Z College of William and Mary
1

<p>I'm trying to find out about the research opportunities for undergrads available at W&M that would pertain to the medical field (b/c i want to do medicine). I know i can go do research wherever i would like during the summer, but i would rather leave my summers open to whatever may come along that might not be research. since there is no medical school at W&M i thought there would be little or no relevant research, but i hope you can inform me otherwise.
I have a good amount of research experience so that really is not an issue.</p>

<p>So basically what kind of research is available there, and is it relevant to medicine?</p>

2

<p>W&M has excellent placement into medical school.</p>

<p>[William</a> & Mary -<em>Student Research](<a href=“http://www.wm.edu/research/studentresearch/index.php]William”>Student Research | William & Mary) student research info
[Undergraduate</a> Research](<a href=“http://research.blogs.wm.edu/]Undergraduate”>http://research.blogs.wm.edu/) student research info
[William</a> & Mary -</em>Undergraduate Research](<a href=“http://www.wm.edu/as/biology/research/undergrad/index.php]William”>http://www.wm.edu/as/biology/research/undergrad/index.php) Biology
[William</a> & Mary -*Research](<a href=“http://www.wm.edu/as/chemistry/research/index.php]William”>Research | William & Mary) Chemistry</p>

<p>hopefully some of these links are helpful… there is also a hospital nearby.</p>

3

<p>Yeah, I know a couple people who are scribes at the hospital. My freshman year a couple of other freshman found a new bacteriophage in their research class that is being tested for the possibility of helping tuberculosis patients. There are a ton of research opportunities for undergrads if you want it. Not all of them are going to be medical related (and any kind of science research will help for med school), but I’m sure you can find some with an overlap (particularly in neuroscience, I think).</p>

4

<p>Great posts already. Some good contacts for you might be the Charles Center and the pre-med advisor, Dr. Bev Sher. They might be able to give you some more specific examples, in addition to the Scribe program at the hospital, of what current students have done as far as medical research.</p>

5

<p>Thank you all for the info. do any of you know of any examples of people who did pre med at W&M? and what their path was? i think that also might be pretty helpful.</p>

<p>soccerguy, what kind of hospital is it? just patients, or is there research or something else going on there?</p>

6

<p>Lots of people have gone the ‘pre-med’ route, W&M has an outstanding medical school acceptance rate (it varies year to year, but 80% seems about the mean, and there’s no pre-med committee to filter applicants to improve their acceptance rate.) There are also “guaranteed” admit programs at MCV/EVMS, so that’s a nice backstop if you choose.</p>

<p>Remember, there’s no “pre-med” degree, only a number of courses that will prepare you to take the MCAT - there’s a list here: </p>

<p>[William</a> & Mary - Pre-Med, Pre-Vet, Pre-Dentist, and Pre-Pharmacy Program](<a href=“http://www.wm.edu/as/undergraduate/advising/preprofessional/premed/index.php]William”>http://www.wm.edu/as/undergraduate/advising/preprofessional/premed/index.php)</p>

<p>While most pre-meds probably take a biology major, there’s some evidence that medical schools prefer majors other than biology and chemistry. Medical schools value the liberal arts experience in their admissions, so don’t think that you need to fill your resume with nothing but hard science. They want you to have experiences beyond that, philosophy, foreign language/culture, business, and so on. So, be sure to take advantage of what W&M offers, learn a language, study or spend a summer abroad, and don’t just do summer research (though you should do that, too.)</p>

<p>There’s no research being done at the local hospitals that I’ve heard of. At W&M, you’re talking basic research, without immediate applications. Your best bet is probably something in the biology or chemistry departments, if that’s your bent. From what I understand, you need to get involved in research as soon as you can - first semester, freshman - as there’s a finite number of positions. Try to talk to Bev Sher, the pre-med advisor before you arrive, or shortly thereafter.</p>

<p>For your clinical experiences, you can do the scribe program, or you can just find local doctors who’ll be willing to allow you to shadow them on rounds, etc. </p>

<p>Volunteering at hospitals is do-able, but frankly, college students aren’t all that desirable for those positions. Most volunteer programs want someone who’s available during the day, all year long, and who lives in the area - retirees, say. For the most part, college students aren’t as available as they’d like, and will take their experiences with them at the end of 4 years. </p>

<p>So, keep that in mind. Further away, there is a level 2 trauma center in Newport News, and even further, a level 1 center in Norfolk - these often have a more pressing need for volunteers than the small regional hospital in Williamsburg. </p>

<p>These also presumably would offer better opportunities for shadowing, as would MCV, which as a teaching hospital (in Richmond.)</p>

7

<p>FYI, volunteering in a hospital isn’t all that important to me. i dont really see how bringing patients to their cars etc etc etc helps except for just being a resume filler. Ideally i would do some research during the school year, and during the summer do some combination of Travel/work/research/volunteering/philanthropy. but i’ll probably try to shadow a doctor sometime.
FYI, second to my ideal situation is to do research during the summer with some philanthropy etc. and do more philanthropic stuff in the school year.<br>
I want to go places like buenos aires in the summer, ideally with a research position at a univ lab. but i know that would be hard to get so that or some work would be nice. but that’s one reason why i want to do research in the school year, so i don’t feel pressured to HAVE to do some research or something in the summer.</p>

<p>I know this is alot but i hope it will give you some perspective into my situation.</p>

8

<p>The people who I know who have volunteered have done more than just walking patients to their cars. I don’t know the specifics, but I remember it sounding quite involved considering they didn’t have a medical degree yet. </p>

<p>And by philanthropic do you mean volunteering? There are student led medical (and “regular”) service trips to various places in the Caribbean over Spring or Winter breaks, as well as more local ways to help.</p>

<p>Lab research over the summer is usually well paid and includes free housing, so a job would be unnecessary, if that was your concern. And there is no reason you would have to continue semester research over the summer. There is quite a bit of turnover between periods.</p>

9

<p>the hospital is not a research hospital, I don’t think.</p>

<p>as I said, W&M has excellent placement into medical school… so they are doing something right. They know what you need to do while you are at W&M to make you competitive.</p>

10

<p>Williamsburg’s hospital is not a research hospital but it is one of the few in the nation to offer a Scribe program to college students. In this program, students work two 10-hour shifts I believe completing charts based on doctor’s dictation. It’s a great way to learn charting skills, basic procedures, taking histories, etc. The pre-med advisor says it’s something medical schools really like. She also stresses that clinical experience is key to applying to medical school be it shadowing a physician or working for a hospital.</p>

<p>Students at W&M do pre-med a lot of different ways. As already mentioned, most major in bio or neuroscience or chem but some have majored in modern languages or music but have worked with the pre-med advisor to take the courses necessary for the MCAT.</p>

<p>W&M students are admitted to medical school at rates 15-20% higher than the national average so they do really well.</p>

11

<p>There are actually two hospitals within 30 minutes of William and Mary that use students as scribes. One is in Williamsburg and the other is in the northern part of Newport News. Both hospitals use scribes in the ED. W&M Admission did a great job of describing the role of the scribe. To me one the biggest benefit is the time that the doctors take to teach the scribes about what they are seeing as the doctors are working with patients. Scribing gives students so many advantages when applying for med school and going through the interview process.</p>