Careers in medicine have often been highly revered in society. Though there are many concentrations, medicine attracts a certain type of person. The driven, industrious student who strives for excellence on a daily basis in all realms of life is usually the one who defines a candidate for a medical career.
The pre-med program is one that, given its rigorous course load and demanding sequence of classes, attracts such people and often puts forth great results for its constituents.
"We have great students at BC and they have done very well at gaining seats in health profession grad schools," Dr. Robert Wolff, the director of the pre-medical program and a professor in the biology department. "Last year, 84 percent of our BC undergraduate applicants were accepted at MD programs. In contrast, 49 percent of students were accepted nationally."
Given this reputation, one would expect a massive amount of interest within the freshman class in pursuing a medical career.
"In terms of incoming freshmen, as of October 15, 404 members of the class of 2009 declared pre-med, pre-dent [pre-dental], or pre-vet [pre-veterinarian]," said Wolff. "The entering A&S class size is 1,593. Therefore, pre-meds, -dents, and -vets make up approximately 25 percent of the incoming A&S class. Last fall, pre-meds, -dents, and -vets constituted 22 percent of the incoming class of 2008."
The numbers speak for themselves; the program has attracted students.
"I did [medical] internships that piqued my interests, so I decided to pursue medicine," said Frank Nasso, A&S '09, upon being asked why he chose medicine in the first place.
The pre-med student must be dedicated to his or her work, as many students find their days consumed with chemistry and lab write-ups.
"It's difficult," said Nasso. "I find myself doing so much work for the program. I'm pretty sure I'll stick with it so long as I have some guidance."
The program is not a major in itself; rather, it is an additional sequence of courses that students are required to take. Those that aren't majoring in a science will find themselves taking physics and organic chemistry along with their major classes.
"It definately adds pressure. There are more restrictions on the classes you can take for your major, causing you to have a much narrower window in which you can complete all of your requirements," says Colin Laughlin, A&S '08.
With the added work comes additional prestige, however, and the pre-med program is competitive.
"Each class gets more and more competitive," said O'Brien. "But that's just the name of the game. It definitely does what it sets out to do, which is prepare us all for med school. I don't like giving up on things; there isn't anything else that I'd rather do than be a vet, so I'll take the challenge."
The pre-med program has a good reputation that corresponds with a heavy workload, but it takes its toll on a student's college career. The choice to stay with it or pick another path is one that most pre-med students have to tackle at some point during their four years.
"It's a lot of work; I live at the library," said Threlkeld. "Friday and Saturday night are free, but once Sunday comes around I basically set up camp in Bapst."
This desire for success, both within the program and for the future, drives students to complete it. The one thing these students have in common, apart from the occasional sleepless night, is their motivation to do what they enjoy - practice medicine.
"I really want to be a doctor because I love the human body and everything about it fascinates me," said Danielle Rivas, A&S '08. "I want to help people and have wanted to be a doctor for a long time."
But for some students, the career potential does not outway the pressures of the college courses. "I wanted to be a doctor," said Rajwantie Sahai, A&S '08, "but then I realized I didn't want my college career consumed by work I didn't want to do."
Sahai, one of many students who was intitially pre-med, decided that the program was not suited for her interests. "After a PULSE clinical, I realized that HMOs just weren't my friends," she said. "The classes I was taking, like biology, took up the majority of my time. I had more of an interest in classes I took that were more fitted for social work.
"Having a balance was important; I didn't want to limit myself to just academics, but then again, I do have friends that have found that balance and continued to pursue the pre-med program."
Although it was a difficult decision, Sahai has no regrets.
"I couldn't be happier," she said. "It was a bit of a struggle, but I didn't want my college career to be solely academics and studying. I've found a good balance."
Like Sahai, many realize that the program is not for them due to a particular experience.
"I decided to drop the program after doing an internship during the summer before my junior year," said Kaytlin Lapsa, A&S '06. "I worked at a veterinary clinic in my hometown, and, while it was an interesting experience, it was not something that I could see myself doing for the rest of my life."
This revelation caused Lapsa to withdraw from the program to pursue other endeavors. "I am definitely happy with my decision because now I feel like I have a lot more freedom to explore different opportunities that are better suited for my personality, interests, and values," she said.
Why did she choose the program in the first place? "When I graduated from high school, I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life but I felt the pressure that I needed to know," she said. "When I was younger I had wanted to be a veterinarian, so I decided to make that my goal."
The distinctive characteristic of a pre-med student is drive. Some students focus this drive into working hard within the program. Others use this drive to decide what they really want in life. The pre-med program is one that many view as reputable - "The program has to be difficult to keep up its great success rate," says Rivas - but some students view the rigorous program as "not for them."
"I did not struggle in making my decision because the only reason I had taken that direction freshman year was because I couldn't think of anything else, and at that point I felt like I had to know what I wanted to do," said Lapsa. "Once I realized that this is not the case, it was very easy to drop the program."
For more information on the pre-medical program go to www.bc.edu/premed.
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