PPC Wednesdays Offer Advice for Med School Bound

Michael Davis

Fridays here at KGI are quite famous for their renowned guess speakers, stellar presentations, and informative workshops.  While all students are highly encouraged to attend, it's quite evident that these events have primarily geared toward MBS students.  In order to accommodate the interests of PPC students, KGI now welcomes PPC Wednesdays!  Every Wednesday the PPC students meet to discuss their ultimate goal of medical school.  What started last year as a few informal meetings with a couple of guest speakers has progressed into something much more meaningful.  Personal statements, MCAT preparation, the interviewing process, and current issues in medicine are merely a few of the topics covered during these sessions.  In addition, there are the occasional presentations and Q&A with current medical students, deans of medical schools, and other health professionals.  Just last semester the PPC program welcomed Neil H. Parker, M.D., Senior Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Graduate Medical Education at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine.  Just last week we welcomed Kia DeMaster, a 3rd year medical student at USC's Keck School of Medicine.  Not to mention, the PPC students will be visiting the Keck School of Medicine this coming May. 

Future PPC students will have some additional incentives for going to PPC Wednesdays because Dr.'s Kim and Phillips are working to have these weekly meetings approved as a course in the KGI curriculum.  This means that as a PPC student, you can receive academic credit and prepare for medical school simultaneously.  The overall goal of the newly instituted course and the PPC program as a whole is to adequately prepare post-baccalaureate students for admission into medical school.  The class aims to help students achieve this goal through self reflection, knowledge of medical issues both current and past, team building exercises, guest speakers, presentations, and workshops to address topics such as the AMCAS application and interviewing skills.  This course will guide students to develop cognitive and behavioral traits that will help with medical school admissions as well as their own personal development; such as identifying personal strengths and weaknesses, creating personal academic and career goals, and developing refined interview techniques.

Some of the guest speakers that have attended and will attend this spring are Tim Cote (M.D., Professor of Regulatory Affairs at KGI), Yvonne Ramos (Admitting Manager of Montclair Hospital Medical Center), Marc Salata (former MCAT Verbal instructor), Sean Rose (Associate Director of Admissions for AUA), and  Jeff Rhoads (Coordinator for College of Medicine, Phoenix).  The PPC program is still young in comparison to other KGI programs, but is quickly becoming a premier program.   

-Michael Davis PPC'12