CSU Alum offers tips for pursuing a medical degree

Students interested in pursuing a career in the medical field should attend The Career Center’s Health Professions Day, Tuesday, Feb. 15 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. in the Gold Room.

 Recruiters from the Medical University of South Carolina will be on hand to answer questions and give advice about entrance requirements, professional exam score requirements and more.

 Dr. Hester Young, director of The Career Center, says all students interested in the health profession should attend, including business, psychology and sociology majors.

 Daniel Grass, a 2006 CSU graduate is currently enrolled in the MD/PhD program at MUSC and recently won a Department of Defense research grant. He attended the MUSC Health Profession Day when he was an undergrad.

 “I do remember Wanda Taylor from MUSC discussing what steps were needed to gain admission into medical school,” said Grass. “It was overwhelming, but if you identify what you have to do early on then you can be more proactive about your career ambitions.”

 Grass offers the following tips for those wanting to pursue medical/graduate school:

• Be proactive in the process. You will learn quickly that everyone you are competing against was the cream of the crop at their undergraduate school, thus you have to really find that something that makes you stand out.
• Good grades, high MCAT scores, volunteer work, extracurricular activities and research are a great start.
• Shadow a physician so you can get an idea of what a real physician does and not a Grey’s Anatomy doctor.
• Since the training is long and strenuous and kicks you while you are down, make sure this is something you are really passionate about.
• Networking is vital for landing competitive jobs. So, try to make contacts with people who may be able to assist in opening up doors for you in the field you are pursuing.
• Have fun learning your material in your biology, physics and chemistry classes. To be a successful health professional you will always have to learn new information; so if you don’t enjoy what you are learning you should be wary because medicine is heavy on the science.
• It is best to get with a faculty member who can give you a realistic picture of your chances for gaining admission. It may hurt if you have not done so well, but it will either give you the drive to do better and boost up your CV, or it will allow you to see that maybe this is not the best career path for you.