Cassandra A. Lee, M.D. – November 22nd, 2019.​
 
About the Speaker
Dr. Lee began her journey into the medical field in 2009. She attended college for three years and then attended medical school for four. Following that, she spent seven years doing her residency.
Dr. Lee is a native of Los Angeles but attended Boston University for one of their BA/MD combined programs. During her schooling, she went into orthopedic research and did some teaching on the MCAT.
Dr. Lee attended Wake Forest School of Medicine where she faced a good amount of gender prejudice, but felt it helped her to grow her confidence.
During Dr. Lee’s third year doing her residency, she obtained pro-sport exposure and had a chance to work on her outreach skills. Dr. Lee’s fellowship lasted for one year in which she had the chance to work on her team coverage skills and operative skills.
After getting through her fellowship, she’s had the opportunity to work in a number of different jobs. Her first job was as an assistant professor and she held that position for six year. Following that, she acted as an associate professor for more than four year and then acted as a residency program director for more than four years. She has also worked as the chief of her sports medicine for more than a year.
 
Generally, how do a person’s years of residency differ year-to-year?
She stated that a person’s first year doing a residency is their time to figure out what they’re doing. For those going into the orthopedic route, they start their actual work in orthopedics and taking care of patients during their second year. After their residency, they go through a fellowship. In sports medicine, those in their fellowship go over team coverage and operative skills.
 
What was the speaker’s view on California Northstate University?
Dr. Lee advised potential medical student that they should not attended Northstate for medical school. The reason for this is because it’s a school for profit and, because of this, it has an uneasy reputation and can get a person blackmarked when it comes to getting a career in the medical field after attending it.
 
Is there still stigma in becoming a DO over becoming an MD?
There is some stigma in becoming a DO, but that’s slowly starting to go away.
According to the speaker, what are the most important things that a person should do when getting into medical school?
Dr. Lee stated that the most important thing that a person can do in getting into medical school is to not look like everyone else. One thing a person can do to accomplish this is to pursue a degree that they’re truly passionate about instead of the usual general biology/science degrees (unless they are truly interested in those fields). She also stated that a person should volunteer at places that they also find interesting and brings them happiness and joy.
Something she added to this is that a person should know their own personality. A person should be sure that they truly want to pursue medicine because it’s a long road to become a doctor and can lead to burnout if a person isn’t careful.
Its also very helpful for a person looking to get into medicine to learn how to network and to find a mentor.
 
Does it matter where someone goes to medical school when it comes to finding a medical job in the United States? Does it also matter where a person goes for their graduate’s degree when it comes to going into medical school?
In order for someone to get into the medical field, a person needs to attend a top-tier medical school. This excludes for profit schools and school at the Caribbean. This may or may not exclude Ross University; Dr. Lee wasn’t aware of the status of this school. 
To get into a good medical school, the school a person attends for their graduate degree matters, but this really isn’t the case for an undergrad degree. A person could obtain a bachelor’s degree at Sac State and qualify just as much as someone else who goes to UC Davis for their bachelor’s degree. However, if someone were to pursue medical school at Harvard, then undergraduate education would be a bigger factor. 
Medical school applicants need at least a 500 on the MCAT to get in (and this is at least).
 
Why are required test scores to get into UC Davis medical school lower than other medical schools of a similar reputation?
The reason the test scores required to get into UC Davis medical school is lower than other schools is because UC Davis is a pro-minority school; they want minorities to attend so that they can better assist their home communities once they complete their needed schooling.
 
Are women underrepresented in orthopedics?
Its true that woman are a underrepresented category of workers in the orthopedic field, but Dr. Lee claimed that this will change. A sign of this is the fact that there are more women attending medical school currently than men.
What are the five hardest medical specialties to get into?
The five hardest medical specialties to get into are dermatology, plastic surgery, neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, and Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) Medicine. This all comes to the fact that these professions provide the best pay and the best resulting lifestyle than any of the other medical professions.
However, this isn’t to say that they guarantee a comfortable lifestyle. Dr. Lee stated that she is one of the highest paid individuals in her profession, but, despite this, she expressed concerned that she may not have enough money to last her through retirement.
 
What is orthopedic surgery anyway?
Orthopedic Surgery is surgery that focuses on injuries of the muscular skeletal system. Essentially, it’s the treatment of damage and disease to moving body parts.
There are two sub-parts of orthopedic surgery: Reconstructive Surgery (which is focused on joint replacement) and Sports Medicine (which are injuries that are expected in sports-related activities).
 
What are the operative pathways to get into sports medicine?
Technically, the only operative way to get into sports medicine is through orthopedics, but there are a number of ways to get into it in non-operative forms.
 
What is it like being a woman in orthopedics?
Being a woman in orthopedics, as described by Dr. Lee, is “like being in a locker room [with a bunch of white] dudes.” For example, Dr. Lee is currently apart of two medical boards in her profession but is the non-white professional apart of either of them, let alone being the only woman in either of them. As of now, the total percentage of women in surgical orthopedics is 8-9%. The rates of women in this field are increasing, however.
 
What is Dr. Lee’s weekly schedule like?
Dr. Lee’s weekly schedule varies, but there are four consistencies as a part of them: clinical work, time in the operating room, research, and time spent in the training room helping potential medical professionals wanting to get into the field.
 
Does the UC Davis sports medical team take care of sports teams outside their school?
The UC Davis sports medical team takes care of a lot of sports team in California outside of their school. This includes the Sac Republic soccer team and one of the sports teams at ARC.
 
What are some surgical procedures that a person can do in orthopedics?
Some of the surgical work that an orthopedic surgeon can do includes meniscus replacement and shoulder repairs/replacements. They can also do joint resection and general reconstruction surgery. 
 
According to Dr. Lee, what does it generally take to get into medical school?
Getting to medical school is a long road and take a long time. In order to succeed in getting through it, a person need to be adaptive to “go with the flow” when conditions require it. There are four qualities that Dr. Lee touched on that a potential medical professional needs to have: Tenacity, Dexterity, Curiosity, and Cooperation (i.e. being a team player).
Tenacity: Enduring through the road to medical school and beyond despite setbacks and failures.
Dexterity: Having a good use of one’s hands. A simple way to improve this quality is practicing how to tie notes. One things Dr. Lee did to improve her dexterity (and she is ambidextrous) is using her non-dominant hand to complete tasks that is typically performed with the dominant one.   
Curiosity: Being willing to questions medicine and aspects of it (what can be done in it, etc.) despite it being a dogmatic practice.
Cooperation: Being able to work effectively with others (nurses, other doctors, scribes, etc.). This can include giving credit to others when they deserve it, but a person should be able to toot their horn when times call for it.
 
Who were some people that Dr. Lee found helpful in her path into the medical field?
People that helped Dr. Lee reach her medical goals included mentors she met during her medical journey as well as her parents.
An additional figure that keep Dr. Lee’s spirits high was Gary Pailing who is, according to Dr. Lee, a godfather in the field of orthoscopy. Dr. Lee considers him the reason she got into sports medicine in the first place.
 
Generally, how does one year of a person’s medical residency differ from another.
The first year of a person’s residency is called the internship where a person learns the basics of what a medical professional does in their chosen field. The second and third year is when a person studies a subspecialty (except in orthopedics where this is covered in a person’s fourth year). People in orthopedics also have a fifth year of residency where they obtain experience in the operation room.
 
What is pay like for a typical doctor?
According to Dr. Lee, “[p]ay’s kinda crap” as a medical professional. As a first-year resident, pay can be low as a a person working as a crew member at Burger King. A typical doctor can earn up to 40-50k per year, but that’s the higher end of pay. Dr. Lee’s pay is $35K a year.
 
What is the general cost of attending medical school?
The cost of medical school is $50K a year and typically requires loans to pay for. Some school can defer loan payments and some even provide loan forgiveness programs, such as PRIME for underrepresented minorities.
 
How many medical residency programs does a person generally apply to?
A potential resident today applies to an average of about 80 programs.
 
What are Dr. Lee’s thoughts on medical school in the Caribbean?
Dr. Lee discouraged the club members from trying to get into medical school in the Caribbean. They can make getting a medical job difficult and Dr. Lee only knows of one person who has studies at one of these schools and received a medical job in the states. 
 
When should a person generally start volunteering?
Dr. Lee stated that a person should begin volunteering when they have their academics stabilized. A person shouldn’t start volunteering until they know it won’t put their grades at risk.
 
- Zachari Shubin, Vice President of Records

Christy Adams, R.N. M.P.H. PhD – November 15th, 2019

Who is Dr. Adams?
Dr. Adams is a registered nurse who also has a master’s in public health and a PhD in Nurse and Science and Healthcare Leadership. Dr. Adams is currently working in injury treatment development. Dr. Adams stopped doing clinical work in 2007, but still works at a trauma center and is specifically there to help injured patients. For a time, she also worked as a flight nurse.
 
Dr. Adams’ Story
As a child, Dr. Adams, wanted to be a marine biologist, but discovered that she would like to pursue nursing when she was in high school. As a high school student in Washington, Dr. Adams volunteered as a candy striper and believes that this position helped her learn what a hospital setting was like. After high school, Dr. Adams attended the University of Arizona-Tuscon in which she graduated in 1990.
She was initially drawn to the ICU because of its fast pace and need for critical thinking. She obtained a critical care internship in which she got to assist in the surgical ICU. During this time, she recalled seeing a flight pad outside of the ICU and concluded that she wanted to be a flight nurse. She looked up what would be required of her in this profession and talked to professionals already in the field.
While in the medical ICU, Dr. Adams obtained experience in liver failure and sepsis which gave her overall experience with how the lungs work in the body.
Eventually, Dr. Adams decided that she wanted to be a traveling nurse. In order to become a traveling nurse, a person needs to sign up with a travelling agency and get sent to a hospital in need of a flight nurse. Prior nurse experience is essentially required. As a traveling nurse, she, at times, gets stuck with the crummy jobs, because of her brief time at the hospitals she helps with. She has one job with UC Davis and decided to stay in Sacramento after that.
 
How many ICUs does UC Davis have and which one is the busiest?
UC Davis has a couple of ICUs. Each one is busier than the other dependent on the time of the year. For example, the trauma ICU is typically busiest in the summers while the ones more related to disease are busier in the winter.
 
Which ICU is the most emotionally challenging to work in?
Dr. Adams stated that the neo-natal ICU is emotionally challenging. It takes the ability to compartmentalize one’s emotion (emotionally detach from a patient to a degree) while still having enough care for the patient to not take their treatment lightly. The neo-natal ICU is also a lot more challenging in general than other ICUs. A major cause of this is that the margin of error for infant treatment is a lot lower than with adults. In addition, a nurse in the neo-natal ICU may work shifts up to 12 hours long.
 
How high quality is UC Davis’s trauma center? What does it take to work there?
UC Davis is a level-one trauma center and is the only in the state to have dual-certification in different types of trauma.
Being able to work at the UC Davis trauma center requires prior research experience and work experience in one position of injury prevention.
 
In her position, does Dr. Adams need to report to a boss of some kind?
On paper, Dr. Adams has a formal boss, but beyond sending a paper report now and again, she acts as her own boss.
 
What is Dr. Adam’s typical day like?
Her days always vary. She could be doing a webinar one day or meeting with a committee the next.
 
What advice did Dr. Adams leave to the AMSA club members?
Dr. Adams told the club members that everything they do, work, volunteer, and educational-wise, should be related to their ultimate educational plan. This is to help build up their resumes. Dr. Adams also advised the club attendees that they should be willing to build their skill set to reach their occupational goals. Getting whatever certifications possible and collecting whatever training they can get will help them become competitive in the fields of medicine they wish to pursue; it will also be beneficial to them and their patients in the future.
Dr. Adams also urged the club members to produce good relationships with the nurses; some have been working for a long time in their profession and may know more than the doctor about certain procedures. Some also work long and tough schedules (such as neo-natal ICU nurses.
If anything, Dr. Adams told the club attendees to trust their gut and be humble during their time becoming and working as medical professionals. They should “do their homework” and do whatever is necessary to reach their goals.  

• Zachari Shubin, Vice President of Records

 

Who is Dr. Wun?
Dr. Theodore Wun is the Associate Dean for Research at UC Davis. He is a first-generation citizen of a Chinese immigrant parents. Although, he was born in Stockton, he grew in the bay area. He specializes in gastroenterology and is also a hematologist oncologist with his research specialty being in population research. As a part of UC Davis, he acted as a member of the of its admissions committee until he obtained his current position as a dean.
 
What is the number one burnout specialty in the medical field?
Being an emergency medical physician is the number one burnout specialty in medicine. Although Dr. Wun is still active at UC Davis in his dean’s position, his wife is retired after practicing 25 years as an emergency medical physician at Kaiser.
 
What training does a person need to receive before they become a doctor?
Becoming a doctor starts with 3-4 years of medical school. Though this typically starts with schoolwork, as of recently, potential doctors are now seeing patients frequently as a part of their introductory medical curriculum. After the first two years of med school, a potential doctor goes into what is referred to as a clinical clerkship. During a person’s third year, they decide which route of medicine they want to take. During their fourth year is when they choose a broad field of medicine that they wish to pursue.
After medical school comes a residency. Which residency program a doctor end up in is determined by “The Match” where doctors rank the top programs they wish to attend and where the programs rank which students they want to attend their program. If a match is hit, then that student attends that specific program. Most residency programs last three years with their first year of residency being referred to as their post-graduate/PG-1 year or their intern year and it is during your residency where you receive they receive their core training. It is when they want to specialize even further where they apply for a fellowship. Certain sub-specialties will also require doctors to take a qualification exam every ten years.
 
How is a nurse practitioner different from a nurse?
A nurse practitioner is essentially the hybrid of a nurse and a physician. Unlike nurses, nurse practitioners can legally diagnose someone with a specific illness. They can also do other things that a regular physician can, but they still need to be loosely overlooked by a physician. This practice seems to be changing, however, with some nurse practitioners now able to do certain things that a normal physician would do without being overlooked by one. Though some of the things that a nurse practitioner does is the same as a regular physician, becoming a nurse practitioner does not take as long as a becoming physician.
 
How has the field of cancer treatment changed since Dr. Wun started practicing medicine?
Since Dr. Wun started practicing medicine, the field of cancer treatment has changed remarkably. To quickly define what cancer is, it is an accumulation of tumor cells that can invade the immune system. A number of different therapies have originated in medicine that didn’t exist when Dr. Wun started practicing medicine which includes Targeted Therapy and Immunotherapy. Targeted Therapy is the process of understanding the biological pathways that cancers take to cause damage and drugs are then used to target these pathways. Immunotherapy, however, is the process of using a patient’s immune system to fight off cancer. Immunotherapy seems to be one of the big things in cancer right now, but it may soon be overtaken by Cellular Therapy which is manipulating human genes to allow the human body to fight cancer off on its own. Dr. Wun’s hope is that all three of these therapy types will be used to treat future cases of cancers in patients.
Have Cancer survival rates increased since Dr. Wun started practicing medicine?
The overall survival rates of people with cancer has been on the rise. Leukemia, for example, is becoming more of a chronic disease instead of a potential killer as it has been. Nowadays, even though leukemia is a still a types of cancer that can kill people, people with it are now expected to live for decades despite it. In the past, a child diagnosed with leukemia only had a 50% survival rate; now, their survival rate has risen to 90%.
 
How has the cultural diversity of doctors changed in California over the years?
The cultural diversity amongst doctors in California has gradually been changing. This has partially been the result of outreach programs, such as COMPADRE, that are encouraging minorities to learn medicine so that they can help fight medical diseases in their communities. Another thing to look at is the gender gap amongst doctors. Today, 60% of the doctors at UC Davis are women.

Will your medical school affect your residency?
How a person does in medical school will greatly affect how they do in their residency. Some schools will handout grades to their students while others will give out a simple “pass” or “fail.” The better a person does in medical school, the better off they will be when they apply for a competitive residency like orthopedic surgery. What also affects a person’s chance of getting into a good residency is also dependent on how well they do on two test: The USMLE, which is considered to be the SAT of medical school, and the MCAT. Why doing well on these tests is considered important is because if a person does well on these tests, they’ll do well on other types of tests in the future.
What is a “Multiple Mini-Exam/Interview (MMI)?”
This is essentially a role-play used by multiple schools, including UC Davis (UCD), to see how potential doctors do in a number of different medical scenarios. You are overseen by a “rater,” who may or may not be a medical personal, and they will determine how you do in each scenario. Why the MMI is considered important is because it is a better indicator of how well a person will perform as a doctor compared to the MCAT and similar test.
 
How hard is it for someone to get into medical school at UC Davis?
Dr. Wun indicated that it can be really difficult to get into medical school at UC Davis with only about 2.3-2.4% of applicants actually getting into the school. However, Dr. Wun also stated that a prospective medical school student still has a 40% chance of getting into a medical school if they apply to a good amount of schools.
 
How does UCD accepts its applicants?
UCD accepts its applicant be looking on a student’s prior school experience to see if they can keep up with a high course load. Two big indicators of this are GPA scores and the MCAT. This isn’t all, however; UCD also checks to see if a student has done volunteer work during their school career; not only does this indicate if a student can juggle multiple things at the same time, it also provides evidence that an applicant has the communal qualities that is essential to become an effective doctor.
Something that UCD definitely looks out for is leadership experience and how Dr. Wun defined leadership experience is as how well a person has done interacting with other in group activities. How a person describes these experiences in an interview also makes a difference. For example, UCD are less interested in hearing about the specifics made in a certain project compared to what the applicant did when the mistake arose.  
 
As a researcher, how much time is put into patients as opposed to research
It varies from doctor to doctor. There are some doctors that don’t even see patients; they act more like a PhD than an MD. However, there are other doctors that see patients on a regular basis. On average, however, a research doctor will spend 20-30% of their time seeing patients and will spend the rest of their time performing research.
 
How does the resarch path verge from the typcial patient path.
The research path typically takes more time than the average medical path and is more competitive. Dr. Wun hinted that some programs could take an additional nine years not counting the clinical stuff.
 
What is the general advice would you give to general pre-med students?
Dr. Wun advised the club members to get a holistic school experience. More specifically, he advised students to get acquainted in multiple fields of interest, that may or not be related to medicine, while spending more time getting experience in one of them.
 
What is your average day like?
An average day for Dr. Wun, as stated by him, is “very highly variable” with a typical week having 50-60 hour of it dedicated to work. Surgeons, however, spend 60-70 hours at work.
 
- Zachari Shubin, Vice President of Records

Dr. Abdul Hassan – October 11th, 2019
 
Who is Dr. Hassan?
Dr. Abdul Hassan is a surgical resident from UC Davis currently in his second year in the surgical department. Dr. Hassan first obtained an interest in medicine in between the years of 2006 to 2008 when his mother nearly died of a mis-bowel injury. He was impressed about how much the surgeons stood by his mother during her operation and recovery and thought this a profession he could pursue. He attended UC Santa Cruz for his bachelor’s in microbial biology and eventually attended UC San Diego for medical school. His current trajectory is to get into general surgery, but he has also considered getting into pediatric surgery.
 
How did Dr. Hassan get into medical school?
            Dr. Hassan didn’t have much direction on how to go through the medical school process. However, he did have a doctor who mentored him and helped him get to where he needed to be. Under Dr. Ian Brown, who Dr. Hassan is now working with as a resident, he learned how important good grades, volunteer work and medical experience was in order to get into medical school. After spending some time reading the internet together, Dr. Hassan obtained a better idea on how to best tackle his medical career.
            Though Dr. Hassan’s efforts to get into medical school have been mostly consistent, feels this wouldn’t have been the case if he hadn’t taken three years off in between getting his bachelor’s and taking the MCAT. When sharing this part of his journey to the club, he acknowledged that this wasn’t the traditional pathway in getting into medical school, but he shared that this time allowed him to get work experience, such as being an MCAT teacher, obtain money for medical school, and develop a strong emotional base for the stress that medical school would bring. Overall, he felt this break then prevented him from getting burnout while in medical school and suggested the club members to consider doing something similar. In his words, without a strong emotional base, he would have “lost himself” in medical school.
 
Why did Dr. Hassan choose to attend UC Davis for his residency?
            Dr. Hassan noted that he had gone to UC San Diego for medical school, but he emphasized that he didn’t do it because of any prestige that the school had. He stated that he did that because he felt that was the best school for. He also explained that this was the reason why he didn’t stay at that school for his residency. He felt that UCSD didn’t have the residency program that would be the most useful to him, so he applied and got accepted into UC Davis where he felt he would grow the most. He told the club members that it was more important that they applied for schools that they felt would most grow them over getting into a school because of the name.
What did Dr. Hassan say about getting into a residency program?
The application for a residency occurs during the fourth year in medical school. Whether of not they are accepted into a program is put solely on the individual as they need letters of recommendation and a good resume to get accepted. When Dr. Hassan went through the application process, he applied to at least sixty programs so that he had an increase chance of being accepted into one program. In addition to that, he ranked the schools from the one he wanted to attend the most to the one he wanted to attend the least. The thing about this ranking system is that the schools also rank how bad they want certain students. If the rankings between the two entities match, a student gets in. Dr. Hassan also stated there were ten things that are important for getting into a residency, but in front of the club, he stated the three most important: test scores, letters of recommendation, and interviews.
 
What was residency like for Dr. Hassan during his first year there?
            Dr. Hassan went over some of his experiences in his first year of residency. During their first year, interns are considered “interns” which essentially means they’re the grunts of the residency program. Whether or not a resident gets a lot of cases during this year depends on how assertive they are in getting them. The more assertive an intern is, the better off they are in the moment and in the long run. Dr. Hassan, who is in his second year of residency, is now considered a “junior” and is now being assigned cases more often.   
 
Which surgical programs are the most competitive?
            All surgery programs are very competitive, but the two most competitive are dermatology and emergency surgery. This is essentially because they work the least for the most pay. For example, an emergency surgeon may work as little as little as 10 hours a month and still easily make a million dollars in a month. Dr. Hassan, however, advised not to pursue these fields of surgery, or any field of surgery, unless they truly want to pursue that field. One reason was that, even though surgeons in these fields are payed rather highly, they typically miss the opportunity to establish a bond with a patient; something that Dr. Hassan personally considers important.
 
How did Dr. Hassan prepare for the MCAT?
            When talking about his preparation for the MCAT, Dr. Hassan stated that, even though its very important, its still JUST a test; its an assessment of an individual’s critical thinking abilities and should only be a part of a lifelong process of learning and improving as a potential medical professional. He suggested that those wanting to go into the medical field should beginning preparing for the MCAT early. Theoretically, its an assessment of knowledge and skills obtained in classes spanning to an individual’s undergraduate career. Relearning everything from earlier college can take a long time and is a reason why it took Dr. Hassan three months to prepare. Any effective MCAT preparation should only be just going over books as reference material and use it as a guide to make sure everything is down. Dr. Hassan emphasized that the MCAT is not a test a person should cram for; they should be working a little bit each day to prepare and gradually take in the material. As he stated concerning the MCAT, and school in general, “It’s not a sprint; it’s a marathon” He also recommends annotating whatever preparation material is being used. He personally used the MCAT preparation book from Kaplan and personally found it very useful. Something that Dr. Hassan did to prepare was to memorize flash cards whenever he would have free time. More specifically, when had a free moment, he would use “Anki,” which is a flashcard app to gradually and thoughtfully take in the material. He also emphasized learning and knowing the concepts instead of trying to memorize a lot of stuff as well as understanding what’s truly important information and what is not.
            Something that Dr. Hassan did that helped with the exam was produce a mock booth that emulated the testing area. He felt Kaplan’s book was the best for him to prepare for the test, but he recommended to the club members that they get whatever books is easiest for them to read. He also thinks Exam Crackers has a pretty good book, too.
 
What are some other things that Dr. Hassan did that he felt contributed to his success preparing for medical school?
            What Dr. Hassan considered a part of his success was if things in medicine didn’t work out, he would be okay. He also emphasized that the major that a person pursues, whether its in science or a different field of study, it not very important; what’s truly important is about whether the right prerequisites have been completed and if they were completed well. This lead him to state that, whatever a person chooses to study as an undergrad, it should be something that they truly find interesting. He’s stated that some of the people that he was in medical school with included math and English majors.
 
What is Dr. Hassan’s average morning like as a resident?
            Dr. Hassan’s schedule as a resident depends on the day. His days would typically start at 5:30am where he would get together with his team and catch up on the day before. As a resident, surgical plans are typically planned out the week before.
 
What other things did Dr. Hassan talk about concerning being a medical resident?
            Dr. Hassan informed the club members that, as a doctor, at some point in their career, at least one person will die because of them. He shared this to inform the club members that being a doctor can be tough.
            He went over the autonomy a person would getting their years going through rotations. During a person’s first year, they always have an attendee with them, but they obtain a lot more autonomy by their 3rd and 4th year.
How did Dr. Hassan tackle his undergrad education?
While going to school for his undergraduate degree, he made studying his priority. He saw studying less as preparing for the next exam and more of preparation for life down the road. He stated that, in order for someone to excel in college, a person needs to do a little bit for their classes each day. In addition, he stated that it’s important for students to establish a support system made up of family and friends for when times get hard and when a person begins to second guess their choice of going into the medical field. He also noted that its important for an individual to be kind to themselves when going through school. In addition, he stated that its important to have a little something, health-wise, that a person can look forward to each day to keep them anchored may it be working out, meditation, or something of the like.
 
What is insurance like for someone in a residency program?
            Dr. Hassan shared that, as a resident, a person gets really good insurance just in case something happens. He also shared that surgeons are their own worst critics and need to become aware when and when not to perform something during an operation.
If you would like to get in contact with Dr. Hassan for any questions or for advice, please contact one of the ARC AMSA officers.
 
Zachari Shubin
Vice President of Records
 
 

Tom Hueller
What is Ross University?

Ross University is the island of Barbados that, in total, has been in operation for 41 years. The first two years of a student’s school at ross takes place on the island, but students return to the states for clinical training for their final two years. Ross has partnerships all around the U.S. with Hospitals for students to go to for their training.  There are currently Ross graduates practicing medicine in all 50 states. In 2019, 669 residency placements were made within 24 different medical disciplines. The curriculum at Ross is based and modelled off medical schools in the states. Compared to medical school in the states, the chances of getting into ross are higher. For example, out of the people that apply to attend medical school at Stanford, only about a tenth of them get in. The Acceptance rate at Ross, however, is 93%. The reason for this is because Ross wants to give as many people as possible the opportunity to fulfil their dreams of becoming doctors. They hold a holistic view, which means they focus on a person’s progression throughout prior college instead of focusing solely on a student’s grade average. The primary message of this presentation was that, as a Ross graduate, you would have a good chance of getting a residency in the U.S. The match rate for a Ross graduate getting residency is 92% with 80% of these matches being in California.
How long does schooling on the island take?
The rate at which a person’s initial two semesters is completed at Ross can occur through one of two pathways: the first pathway is the regular track which take 5 semesters (25 months). The benefit of this track is that there is more study time built into the semester which can be helpful in getting students to better comprehending the material they need to know. The other track is the accelerated track which is 4 semesters (20 months). The benefit here is that a person can finish their first two years in less time and begin their clinical training quicker. A person can choose to take the accelerated track if they perform well in their initial months at the school.
What does Ross offer to prepare students to become doctors?
Apart of the initial schooling received is Ross’ fully digitized anatomy lab. This allows students to practice what its like to be a doctor without having to work on actual patients. The lab includes five stations for training and is supplemented by case studies to raise bring importance to what the students are trying to learn. For those interested in becoming surgeons, they also have a digital human dissection station to give a better feel of what its like to perform surgery. Vignettes are used to walkthrough student’s different patient scenarios. Also apart of the lab is an ultrasound room to give students experience in using ultrasound equipment. 
An additional resource used to help students is the simulation center that includes a primary area and a simulation lab. Through demonstrating and roleplaying, the goal of the simulation center is to help rid students of the nervousness they may experience as doctors.
What is student life like at Ross?
Ross University has a very diverse student environment when it comes to ethnicity and they have clubs that students can join they may pertain to student cultures or medical specialties.
Ross provides housing for its students in an area called “Coverly.” Students are placed in 3-bedroom housing areas that are near restaurants and sporting areas for the students to enjoy. Shuttling is also provided to get students to the university. The average shuttle ride is about 20 minutes.
What is Ross’ history?
Ross College was stationed for 38 years on the island of Dominiqua, but after a hurricane came in and caused an evacuation of the campus, the school slowly transitioned to its current location on Barbados. In the meantime, student continued their studying at Lincoln Memorial University. Barbados is apart of the British Commonwealth and can be reached by air travel from the state of Florida.
Where does clinical training occur?
After a student’s first two years at the college, students perform their clinical training in the states. A student can choose one of many training hospitals to study at that are partnered with Ross. Two of these hospitals include California’s own Kern Medical Center and California Hospital Medical Center.
Ross University works via a Quarter-System with three quarters equating to one semester in length of another college.
What are the prerequisites to get into Ross?
Prerequisites to get into Ross include two semesters of biology with labs, two semesters of general chemistry with labs, 2 semesters of organic chemistry with labs, 2 semesters of physics with a lab, a semester of math, two semesters of English, and completing an essay for entry. Prior medical experience (such as volunteering at a hospital, shadowing a physician, or acting as a physician’s scribe) is also highly desired.
How can I apply to get into Ross?
Ross accepts applications year-round and can submitted either at medical.rossu.edu or [email protected]
What if my grades aren’t good enough to get into Ross?
For those who are under the grade requirements to get into Ross but still hold potential of becoming quality doctors, Ross will send students to a 1 semester rigorous medical preparation course in Florida called MERP. If a person is able to meet the standards of MERP, a student will have earned guaranteed admission into Ross. If a student is unsuccessful, however, they are given a total refund for their time at MERP. MERP costs $13,000 to attend.
How much does it cost to attend Ross overall?
Total schooling at Ross is about $260,000.


Zachari Shubin
Vice President of Record

As my alarm rang at 5 a.m., I groggily got up wondering why my alarm clock was going off on a peaceful Saturday morning. It was then that I remembered about the UC Davis Pre-Health Conference. I pulled my warm blanket off of me as my feet touched the cold hard-wood floors of my room. I walked to my bathroom and with eyes half-opened, I began getting ready for the day ahead of me. I dressed myself in black slacks, a black and white blouse, a black blazer, and heels. In my purse I had my wallet, extra battery charger, business cards, a small notebook, and a pen;  I was prepared for the day ahead of me.

Off on the road, I hit traffic on the freeway towards Davis. It seemed like everyone else was also attending the conference. I got to the conference 10 minutes before the registration lines opened up at 7 a.m. The cold morning gust was unforgiving. Finally, the lines began moving and we moved into The Pavilion stadium as breakfast and morning events commenced. 

We had Dr. Lars Berglund, the Associate Vice Chancellor for Biomedical Research, as the keynote speaker. He spoke amazing things about the advancements in medicine especially in regards to research and the application of the other sciences and engineering to medicine. 

After the morning commencements, we were escorted outside where we had workshops and met with representatives from dental, medical, pharmacy, and many other health professional schools. As a second year, I currently am not ready to take the MCAT or to apply for medical schools but it was fascinating learning about how I could work on myself now as a student to prepare for the MCAT and learn how to become a better applicant.

There were a lot of workshops that it almost felt very overwhelming. I wanted to attend other workshops but the schedule conflicted and I had to choose which to attend. Since this is one of the biggest pre-health conferences in the nation, this wasn't too surprising. However, I felt like because they had a lot of interesting workshops, that the event should be spread out over at least 2 days or separate the days based upon interests (i.e. PA/Pharmacy on one day, medical/dental on another).

Overall, I had fun learning about resources that will help me become a better student and applicant for medical school, meeting other like-minded individuals, and getting to know my fellow AMSA officers better. 

Sincerely, 

Maipaluku Moua, Co-VP of IT AMSA ARC

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A PRE-MEDICAL SURGICAL STUDENT INTERN AT SIMP (PART I)
       This past summer I had the amazing experience of becoming one of the pre-medical surgical students at the Surgical Internship and Mentorship (SIMP) Program at the UC Davis Health Center.  This program is one of the most competitive pre-medical programs in our country and is here in Sacramento, close to our community college.  It is open to a wide array of pre-medical students from community colleges, graduate schools to even High School students.  People from all over the country apply for a spot.        
       I started my application for the Summer Cycle 2014, on November 2013, which might seem well in advance, but I had just enough time to gather all the requirements.
I began by talking with my professors about my interest in the program and the possibility of having a letter of recommendation written for my application.
       After being accepted into the program, I began preparing for the surgical internship in terms of learning policies, and rules about the UC Davis Medical Center (UCDMC).  I made sure I read and re-read the SIMP handbook, since the program is very rigorous and I wanted to be ready and informed for the tasks that lay ahead.
       My first two days at SIMP were spent at the “Surgical Academy”, which is an anatomy and physiology bootcamp.  We received several lectures from attending surgeons, residents, and medical students.  We covered the whole human body in two days.  The sort of material taught was engaging, the amount of material was challenging.
       The next step was signing up for shifts.  Since I was part of the summer cycle we were required to have a minimum of two shifts per week, and one of those shifts had to be during a weekday.  My signing up went smoothly and I was ready to follow the teams of vascular surgery, plastic surgery, ear-nose-throat surgery, and surgical oncology, between others.
       The day before my first shift I paged the residents around 6:00 pm.  I waited by the phone for my call back and to my surprise it took no longer than two minutes.  The resident instructed me with the floor and the room where “rounds” start and asked me to be there at 5:00 am.  I was thrilled and nervous about my first shift, because I did not want to make any mistakes but at the same time I wished to make the most of my shift.
       The next day I woke up at 3:10 am.  I got ready in 40 minutes and left home at about 4:00 am.  As I drove in the early morning, it was dark still, and the streets were empty.  
As I arrived to UCDMC I used the little map of the hospital to find the elevators and found the conference room where the team met.  All the medical students and residents were busy working on their notes.  I was not sure if I was in the right place, but as I introduced myself one of the residents, told me it was Vascular Surgery.  I was super excited, I had arrived and I was ready to absorb all the knowledge that these physicians and future physicians in training would share with me.
Andrea Kulinich
*Andrea Kulinich now attends University of California at Davis, majoring in Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior *
This space was created as a channel to express our opinions, our experiences and share some of the things that have impressed us in our journey as premed students.
We hope you enjoyed reading our articles as much as we enjoy writing them.

Sincerely,
Andrea Kulinich
Officer Notes Editor

I just want to express a huge thank you to Andrea for having the novel idea to work with me to start such a unique feature of our website!  I believe it will certainly set us apart as an organization for a long time to come, and will be a fantastic new tradition for our up-and-coming members and officers.

Sincerely,
Zaed Hindi
Officer Notes Co-Editor