To Be...A Spartan MD

“What are you majoring in at college, Elizabeth?” That question came from the mailman. It came from my hairstylist, my friends, my coworkers, and the lady-who-used-to-go-to-my-church-who-I-ran-into-at-the-grocery-store-after-ten-years. Fair enough. I was about to leave my quiet Ohio town to set off on a new adventure at Indiana University, and I counted myself lucky to have others sharing in my excitement. “Organ performance.” I had spent the last year practicing my tail off for college auditions, getting up at 6am to get an hour in before school each day. At the end of audition season, I was headed to my top-choice school, to study with my top-choice instructor, and spend the next four years learning how to be the best church organist possible. “Huh! So you want to be a doctor? A surgeon?” Mr. Runner, a family friend, was much more familiar with the organs of the body than the pipe organs of Europe. I had very fond memories of the summer that I spent shadowing in an orth...

At the inception of the National Medical Association (NMA), African American physicians were not allowed to join the American Medical Association (AMA), or its student organization, the American Medical Student Association (AMSA). The Student National Medical Association (SNMA) is the daughter organization of the NMA. “The Student National Medical Association, established in 1964, is the oldest and largest independent, student-run organization focused on the needs and concerns of black medical students in the United States.” Based on this knowledge, the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine SNMA chapter has worked hard to create and maintain community and medical student involvement in the lives of underrepresented and under-resourced members of the East Lansing and Grand Rapids communities. In the current medical climate, our chapter feels it is important to continue to be critical of the medical school pipeline and consistently help to strengthen and add to...

The path to medical school is rarely a straight one. Each journey is different and, more so today, prospective students can take various routes to matriculation. Sometimes, a winding road is more out of need than preference. But whether by choice or not, the path to medical school no longer has to be so...linear. In fact, medical schools are increasingly accepting of those coming from outside the traditional pre-med, B.S. route. As the admissions review process has become more holistic , schools are rounding out their entering classes more effectively, filling any gaps. Institutions like the College of Human Medicine (CHM) have become a bit more flexible about such paths. It's one reason why the college's Office of Admissions has moved on from requiring students meet one single list of more traditional prerequisites. Now, students are allowed the ability to select from several prerequisite models for which to have their applications reviewed. These model options allow...