CHM Office of Admissions Launches Brand-New, Modern Website
A new site for the admissions office was due--the prior version was launched in 2015. Even now, CHM is still one of the few medical schools in the country to host a site specifically for their admissions office. With so much available content, prospective applicants will find useful information across the entire site.
There's a lot of ground to cover.
The goal for our newest iteration is to improve the structure of information so that it offers better overview and usability. We want this new website to provide visitors better access to our admissions process while also giving off a greater sense of our college's community-based culture. We feel that our blend of social awareness, community integration, and innovative spirit as it relates to our mission is a unique combination in medical education. So, it's important that potential applicants understand the tenets of that mission and how CHM students (i.e. accepted applicants) reflect those ambitions. Indeed, it's all about fit!
After several months of dedicated work, we've improved the site in a number of areas to reach that goal. The new design makes it easier to navigate and is more user-friendly, categorizing information into fewer, more concise sections. For instance, much of the information on our Shared Discovery Curriculum can be found by simply clicking on the Shared Discovery tab on the homepage. Once on the main curriculum page, the subsequent pertinent information is featured in that category as links boxed to the right.
You’ll find our new site is divided into seven sections: Mission, Applying, Shared Discovery Curriculum, Programs, CHM Resources, Events & Deadlines, and Contact Us. Each section has it's own unique banner photo at the top of the page. The prior site incorporated features that worked for its time, using sections and dropdown menus to take visitors across the site. While our prior site was broken up to be as succinct as possible, the segmentation led visitors on too many paths. We now shift to a more narrow layout, so applicants can easily locate the information they need. In this case, simpler is better.
A clear example which facilitates improved navigation for applicants is how we now present the applicant information. Whereas previous sites broke applicant information into three separate categories (future applicants, current applicants, and accepted applicants), much of the applicant information is now presented within the Applying silo.
Our Programs page is a bit more organized as well, allowing visitors to learn about our multitude of offerings. Easier access points give clear paths to each of our admittance, certificate, and dual-degree options.
The new site is meant to be much more visually appealing, offering an increased variety of photos and useful videos that form a lively window into the college. Traditionally enjoyed features like our student spotlights and self-assessment guide remain, now within our new CHM Resources section. Visitors can check out the advisory resources page to download the guide as well as our premedical handbook. Make sure to keep an eye on our Events & Deadlines section, which still has a portion of the more immediate upcoming dates featured on the homepage.
Among the new features the site contains are colorful graphics and infographs, particularly within the curriculum portion. Our new Shared Discovery Curriculum Highlights page shows precisely how the SDC places the college "at the forefront of national efforts to improve the medical school experience in response to changes in the landscape of health care, advances in medical knowledge, and new understanding about lifelong learning and competency-based assessment. It's who we are."
Our online presence is part of who we are as well, marking integrated social media buttons for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram on our homepage foster improved communication with applicants from all backgrounds. So we took out the twitter feed from our previous site, decluttering the homepage space and creating a sleeker, cleaner platform to begin your browsing.
There's a lot we can mention. But we'll let you familiarize yourself with all the bells and whistles. As a leader in medical education innovation, it’s important for us to make information regarding our thought leadership, services and initiatives easily accessible for prehealth programs and prospective students at any phase of the admission process.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to let us know. Enjoy!
Dare to be...a Spartan MD!
-The Office of Admissions Team
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