Preparation
Who are Preprofessional Students?
Spotlight on Health Professions – Read a summary profile for many of the health professions.
Volunteer and/or Work Experience in the Health Care Field
Health Professional Schools value and expect students to have experience in their stated health career of interest. These experiences are critical to a preprofessional student's preparation to enter professional school for a variety of reasons including validation of the career decision and demonstrated commitment to the profession.
While students often focus in on the number of hours accumulated, it is important to reflect on the experiences for the greatest gain. Students are encouraged to keep a reflection journal. In this journal you could write about what you did, what you learned, what surprised you about the profession, what excited you, and what you observed with patient-health care provider interactions. For most health care professions, what you learned from the experience is more important than the total number of hours accumulated. Please note that physical therapy, physician assistant, and many veterinary medical schools require a minimum number of hours of direct health care experience in the profession. See your preprofessional advisor for more information.
MSU's Center for Service-Learning and Civic Engagement coordinates all volunteer placements in health care and a variety of other settings in the greater Lansing area for our students. Students sign up for volunteer placements at the beginning of each semester. Volunteer placements in health care settings often fill up quickly - click the link to learn more.
Community Service/Leadership Experiences
Think about the qualities you admire in health care providers. Some qualities that come instantly to mind may include: demonstrated leaders, effective communicators, compassionate, engaging, committed, and service-oriented. Take the opportunity now to develop and/or refine these types of qualities during your undergraduate years. Students often mistakingly think that all their service experience and organization involvement must be health care oriented. While it is important to have health care experience, it is equally important to pursue your passions and interests fully. Doing so may also further develop these key qualities in yourself.
Key resources on campus that assist students in finding volunteer service-oriented and leadership experiences include:
• Center for Service-Learning and Civic Engagement
Signup for volunteer placements in health care and a variety of other settings in the greater Lansing area
•Department of Student Life
A list of all the medically related student organizations on campus or visit the complete list of all MSU student organizations
How to be a Competitive Applicant to a Health Professional School
Summary of key academic and non-academic factors to keep in mind as you prepare to apply to health professional schools.
Spotlight on Health Professions – Read a summary profile for many of the health professions.
Volunteer and/or Work Experience in the Health Care Field
Health Professional Schools value and expect students to have experience in their stated health career of interest. These experiences are critical to a preprofessional student's preparation to enter professional school for a variety of reasons including validation of the career decision and demonstrated commitment to the profession.
While students often focus in on the number of hours accumulated, it is important to reflect on the experiences for the greatest gain. Students are encouraged to keep a reflection journal. In this journal you could write about what you did, what you learned, what surprised you about the profession, what excited you, and what you observed with patient-health care provider interactions. For most health care professions, what you learned from the experience is more important than the total number of hours accumulated. Please note that physical therapy, physician assistant, and many veterinary medical schools require a minimum number of hours of direct health care experience in the profession. See your preprofessional advisor for more information.
MSU's Center for Service-Learning and Civic Engagement coordinates all volunteer placements in health care and a variety of other settings in the greater Lansing area for our students. Students sign up for volunteer placements at the beginning of each semester. Volunteer placements in health care settings often fill up quickly - click the link to learn more.
Community Service/Leadership Experiences
Think about the qualities you admire in health care providers. Some qualities that come instantly to mind may include: demonstrated leaders, effective communicators, compassionate, engaging, committed, and service-oriented. Take the opportunity now to develop and/or refine these types of qualities during your undergraduate years. Students often mistakingly think that all their service experience and organization involvement must be health care oriented. While it is important to have health care experience, it is equally important to pursue your passions and interests fully. Doing so may also further develop these key qualities in yourself.
Key resources on campus that assist students in finding volunteer service-oriented and leadership experiences include:
• Center for Service-Learning and Civic Engagement
Signup for volunteer placements in health care and a variety of other settings in the greater Lansing area
•Department of Student Life
A list of all the medically related student organizations on campus or visit the complete list of all MSU student organizations
How to be a Competitive Applicant to a Health Professional School
Summary of key academic and non-academic factors to keep in mind as you prepare to apply to health professional schools.
