Pre-Med Students & Science Majors

Pre-Med Students

Science Majors

Science Labs, Field Works, and other Medical Health Opportunities

Pre-Med Students, Science and Math Majors

Pre-Med Students

Students who are, or are considering the possibility of, studying abroad and are also preparing to apply for medical school —to enter directly after graduation —should be sure to confer with Michele Taillon Taylor, Ph.D., the Pre-Health Advisor, at least three months before their departure to their respective programs. (See below for more details on pre-med preparation.)

There are a number of notable institutions with science courses approved by admissions offices of medical schools. The following are those programs available through the Haverford Office of International Academic Programs.

Students can take courses during a semester or a year of study at:

The University of Melbourne	The Hebrew University (Semester II)
The University of the West Indies, Barbados	The University of Delft
The University of Aberdeen, Scotland	The Queen's University of Belfast, Northern Ireland
National University Ireland, Galway	The University of Edinburgh, Scotland
University College Dublin, Ireland	The University of Stockholm, Sweden
The University College London, England UCL Health & Medical Education Program	King's College London, England Medical Program
The University of Hawaii at Manoa	Semester ALMOST Abroad:

Or a full year study at:

The University of Cambridge, England

The University of Oxford, England

King's College Premedical Programme

• Training in the core skills of the biomedical sciences
• A specially designed course in the Practice of Medicine
• An intensive two-week clinical attachment at the School of Medicine
• Courses in Organic Chemistry directly modeled on those at Ivy League schools

UCL Health and Medical Education Program

The courses at the International Health and Medical Education Centre are mainly aimed at future health professionals, but they are also suitable for students coming from other backgrounds - such as other biological and health sciences, politics, economics, sociology, philosophy, geography or anthropology - who are interested in international health issues.
 
The courses at IHMEC aim to help students understand the local factors that affect a population’s health and the global factors that link and shape health across the world. They are:

·          International Health Policy (whole year only)
·          Health, Poverty, and Development (Fall)
·          Conflict, Migration and Human Rights (Fall)

·          Infectious Diseases in Developing Countries (Spring)
·          Maternal and Child Health in Developing Countries (Spring)

Spaces are limited, and preference will be given to those students intending to stay for an entire year. 

Courses Abroad

Recommendations from Professors

If you get to know your foreign professor well, you may want to ask for a recommendation, which should be sent to Michele Taylor, to be included in your Haverford portfolio. It is best to ask your professor in person, before you leave for home and please provide a stamped envelope addressed to Michele Taylor.

The faculty member should, if possible, also email a copy of the letter as an attachment to: mtaylor1@haverford.edu.  You may download the Letter of Recommendation form from the Pre-health website to give to the recommender.  It should be signed and sent back with the hardcover letter.

Pre-Med Preparation

Transcripts:

Dean Mancini has consulted the Supervisor of Transcript Verification section of AMCAS regarding transfer of credits from approved programs abroad. Medical schools accept credits from approved junior abroad programs.

For a grade received from a Haverford sponsored program abroad to count towards your GPA, it must be listed on your Haverford transcript. Since semester abroad grades are listed as P/F on Haverford transcripts, AMCAS will not include them in their calculation of your science GPA. If you go abroad through another sponsoring U.S. institution and that school lists your abroad course work grades on their transcripts, then those grades will be counted towards your AMCAS GPA.

Instructions from the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) on filling out the Study Abroad Course Work section of the primary application for medical school:

Courses attempted through a study abroad program sponsored by a U.S. or Canadian institution must be entered. If your transcript does not indicate that the courses were part of a formal study abroad program, you must ask the registrar’s office to attach a letter of explanation to the official transcript before it is sent to AMCAS.

• Include the foreign institution and the sponsoring U.S. or Canadian institution in your list of colleges attended.
• Request a transcript exception for the foreign institution. Indicate the U.S. or Canadian institution on whose transcript credits will appear.
• List study abroad course work under the foreign college at which it was attempted.

If the sponsoring U.S. or Canadian institution provides letter grades (e.g., A, B, C etc.) and credit hours convertible to semester hours for each course on their transcript or on an official letter attached to their transcript (e.g. Temple in Rome):

• Enter all required course data.
• AMCAS will include this course work in AMCAS GPAs.

If the sponsoring U.S. or Canadian institution does NOT provide letter grades other than Pass/Fail:

• Indicate “Pass/Fail” as the Course Type and provide all other required course data, entering information exactly as it appears on the transcript of the sponsoring institution.
• AMCAS will NOT include this course work in the AMCAS GPAs; however, AMCAS will include this course work in cumulative Pass/Fail-Pass and Pass/Fail-Fail credit hour totals.

(If you have further questions about this refer to the website of the Association of American Colleges of Medicine: www.aamc.org/amcas, or email AMCAS at: amcas@aamc.org,

or call 202-828-0400 )

Advice on your Application to Medical School

Since medical school admissions are “rolling,” it is important for applicants to get their applications in as early as possible—which usually means by July a year before matriculation. This may create complications for those studying abroad second semester of their junior year, especially if they have not planned carefully and find themselves rushing to complete all premed requirements in order to apply to medical school at the end of the junior year. Often it makes sense for students to give themselves some breathing room and apply to medical schools one year later, thus strengthening their accomplishments and academic record. Since more than half of those accepted to medical schools have taken at least a year off between college and med school, and applications including senior year grades are usually stronger, most students wait to apply until the end of senior year. This allows them to get the most out of their study abroad experience without the anxieties and distractions of the premed process. They also have more time to concentrate on MCAT preparation and to get to know their Haverford  professors, who are, in turn, better equipped to write detailed recommendations after another year of working with the student.

It is, however, certainly possible to take a semester abroad AND apply to medical school after one’s junior year, but all essential premed requirements in biology, chemistry and physics will have to be completed successfully before departure. (This will probably require that you take at least one of the sequences in the summer.) In addition, recommendations from Haverford faculty should ideally be in your files in the Pre-health office before you leave so the Pre-health advisor can write your committee letter in a timely fashion.

MCAT:

If you are going to apply to medical school after your junior year, you should plan to take the MCAT early in the spring, either before you go, e.g. January, or while you are abroad. (http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/sitelisting.htm) The MCAT is presently being given on computers in test centers at specific times during the months of January through September. For more information about the MCAT go to: www.aamc.org/mcat. One caveat, being in another culture may interfere with your performance on this test. It is important to be very well prepared and very focused. If you have any questions about appropriate timing for the MCAT, please contact Michele Taylor (mtaylor1@haverford.edu.)

Science and Math Majors

The Biology, Chemistry, Math and Physics departments accept courses taken at the aforementioned institutions to count towards a major or minor. Courses can also be found that meet the biochemistry concentration. Obviously not all courses abroad meet all our major requirements and you will need to meet with your major adviser to select the courses abroad that best fit your academic program.

Math majors can also study at most of these institutions. Math majors are encouraged to attend the Budapest Semesters in Mathmatics program in Hungary.

Science Labs, Field Work and Other Medical Health Opportunities

  Public Health

University College London, International Health and Medical Education Center

The International Health and Medical Education Center (IHMEC) offers courses intended for future health professionals, as well as courses suitable for students coming from diverse academic backgrounds with an interest in international health issues. The IHMEC courses help students understand local factors that affect a population’s health and the global factors that link and shape health across the world. Courses include International Health Policy; Health, Poverty and Development; Conflict, Migration and Human Rights; Infectious Disease in Developing Countries; and Maternal and Child Health in Developing Countries.

DIS (Denmark International Study)

Students interested in Public Health should consider the DIS program in Denmark as well as the colleges listed above.  

Extracurricular/volunteer opportunities

Some programs have volunteer opportunities or internships in medically related fields. Students can explore medical systems in their host country or work in hospitals or other health centers, such as inoculation programs, handicapped children, and women’s birth control centers. Check out the websites above.

Studying abroad is a wonderful experience which requires a bit of extra effort and planning, especially for those pursuing a medical degree or a science major. Before you decide against it, consider the benefits of expanding your pre-med/science experience abroad.

*Special thanks to Michele Taylor, Haverford’s Pre-health Advisor, for working with the Study Abroad Office to ensure opportunities for Pre-Med track students to go abroad. She provided us with the original information from which to create this handout.

This page was last updated on September 23, 2009