Beginning your Pre-Professional Journey:

1. Beginning your Pre-Professional Journey: First and Second Year Student Preparation for Pre-Professional Programs Presented by the CLAS Academic Advising Center’s Pre-Professional Advising Team: -JoAnn Litton, Senior Academic Advisor for Pre-Professional Programs -Julie Amon, Academic Advisor -Joanie Hodson, Office Coordinator -Nick Woodward, Graduate Assistant

2. Preparing for Pre-professional Journey • MD, MD/Ph.D, DMD, DO, PharmD, AMCAS, DAT, MCAT • Appointments/group advising • Online office hours (http://gvsu.edu/clasadvising/online-office-hours-via-blackboard-im-178.htm) • Etiquette-email, voicemail, Facebook • Start your own personal professional file

3. What is this Profession all about? • Gather Information • What do I enjoy doing in my spare time? • My strengths, (http://gvsu.edu/counsel/career-development-117.htm) both personal and academic • CLAS Academic Advising Website(http://www.gvsu.edu/clasadvising/professional-programs-14.htm) • Fact Sheet • Do my strengths align with this career choice? • What could be a parallel plan for me? • Utilize www.explorehealthcareers.org to explore other careers of interest to you • Interview a professional in the field

4. Building Your Application Objectively • Start off strong and stay strong! • Course work (http://gvsu.edu/clasadvising/clas-major-requirements-guides-28.htm) • Science GPA and Overall GPA • Few or no Repeated courses • AP Credit and Community College Courses • Select a Major/Minor/gen ed & electives • Majors Fair Wednesday, November 2; 11 am-2 pm, GRR • myPath • You can choose any major you like so long as you’ve fulfilled the pre-requisites for your professional program

5. Can you calc a GPA? SCIENCE COURSES INCLUDE ANY COURSE IN: Biology Biomedical Sciences Chemistry Math Statistics Physics

6. Use your pre-professional Fact Sheet!

7. CAMPUS SUPPORT • Your Professors! • Science Success Center (http://www.gvsu.edu/ssc/) • Structured Learning Assistance (SLA) (http://www.gvsu.edu/sla/) • Student Academic Success Center (SASC) (http://www.gvsu.edu/sasc/) • Writing Center (http://www.gvsu.edu/wc/) • Mathematics and Stats Labs • (http://www.gvsu.edu/mathcenter/) • Mapworks

8. Building your application subjectively • Community Service Learning Center (http://www.gvsu.edu/service/) • On-Campus Jobs • Mentoring • Tutoring/Facilitating (S3, SLA, SASC) • Women’s Center • Office of Multicultural Affairs • Office of Student Life • Students Against Cancer, Alternative Breaks American Red Cross Club • Join a Pre-Professional Organization • Leadership

9. Building your application subjectively • Shadowing Contact Lists by Program • (http://www.gvsu.edu/clasadvising/professional-programs-14.htm) • Area Hospitals • Spectrum Health • St. Mary’s • Metro Health • Red Cross • Humane Society • Walker Medical (CNA/Phlebotomy Training) • Study Abroad

10. Building your application subjectively • Research • Faculty • Van Andel Institute • Student Scholarship Day • Summer research opportunities • Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholarship (OURS)-10/2; 5-7 pm in KC

11. Relationships • Meet your faculty advisor and professors! • Professionals in the field • The CLAS Academic Advising Center’s Pre-Professional Advising Team • To support the process of developing a pre-professional plan • To assist in the development of parallel plans • To be a resource for questions on preparing for and applying to professional programs

12. Your pre-professional journal • Update your journal as you get more experiences • Periodically assess: Is this what I want to do? • myPath (myBanner.gvsu.edu) –Student Records • Mapworks

13. The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible. ~ Arthur C. Clarke