Pre-Med Club Help! I Need Some Ideas

[ballershotcalla]

Hi everyone! Our Pre-Med Club sucks so much that I want to do something about it. We barely have anything to discuss and only a few members attend them. I need ideas on how to make a Pre-Med Club appealing to members so we don't lose them! Right now we are working on bringing the club together since everyone has abandoned it (the president took a leave of absence to settle some personal issues). We haven't had a meeting in a few months.

I will appreciate all the help I can get. I want to be the difference maker !

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[ncguy2005]

Is this your chapter of AMSA? or just a "pre med club"?

 

[ballershotcalla]

It's just a "Pre-Med Club"

Our school isn't that big. BTW, what is AMSA?

 

[Auron]

It's just a "Pre-Med Club"

Our school isn't that big. BTW, what is AMSA?

I think you're referring to Alpha Epsilon Delta.

 

[ncguy2005]

AMSA stands for "American Medical Student Association" its a national organization that anyone from pre-med all the way up to physicians can join. Our school has a local chapter, and they do a lot of stuff in the community like Relay for Life and Habitat for Humanity.

Organize projects, those really get people motivated.

 

[kyidmnmaiv]

Our chapter will invite med schools to visit and give presentations. We've also had doctor/med student panels. Serving pizza is a good way to reel people in.

 

[ballershotcalla]

yeah i was thinking a pizza (or whatever) with a meeting should reel in some people.

keep the ideas coming. im trying to make a list!

 

[ballershotcalla]

Our chapter will invite med schools to visit and give presentations. We've also had doctor/med student panels. Serving pizza is a good way to reel people in.

do you know how we can join AMSA?

 

[kyidmnmaiv]

I'm not sure how a chapter affiliates with AMSA. Here's the website: http://www.amsa.org/. You should be able to find info there. Once you join, I think you can access meeting ideas, etc.

 

[DrBowtie]

Get speakers. Local physicians, researchers etc. And provide food.

 

[MonkeyNuts!]

Think like a premed.

What is the only thing that will get premeds to do something? The "something" has to help them get into medical school. Plain and simple. It's the #1 reason why premeds volunteer, do research, bust their butts for grades, etc etc. It's cold and seems heartless, but it is true.

So, things to get your club worth a premeds time. AED takes a while to get set up. But in the meantime you can host seminars on how to plan out an app cycle, put together mcat prep sessions, interview workshops, PS statement writing workshops as well as volunteer activities, tutoring, service opportunities etc. You said you were at a small school so it might be hard, but just take small steps for now.

Remember think like a premed and keep in mind what they want.

 

[degoo_]

students come out in droves if you get some med students to comment on how to submit a strong application.

 

[Auron]

Think like a premed.

What is the only thing that will get premeds to do something? The "something" has to help them get into medical school. Plain and simple. It's the #1 reason why premeds volunteer, do research, bust their butts for grades, etc etc. It's cold and seems heartless, but it is true.

So, things to get your club worth a premeds time. AED takes a while to get set up. But in the meantime you can host seminars on how to plan out an app cycle, put together mcat prep sessions, interview workshops, PS statement writing workshops as well as volunteer activities, tutoring, service opportunities etc. You said you were at a small school so it might be hard, but just take small steps for now.

Remember think like a premed and keep in mind what they want.

How about a big sign that says: "How to get into medical school guaranteed - and what other premeds don't want you to know"


they'll come in hordes

 

[youngnflyy]

Food is always an attractant. Also I agree with the above ideas about hosting MCAT prep sessions, study sessions, and inviting physicians to speak. Organizing volunteer activities is also great as most pre-med's really are looking to pad their stats.

 

[RollSkins]

We got the Kaplan people to come and give a talk about their program. It brought people out because they brought pizza. Also if you talk to any military recruiter they will get someone to come out and tell you about the option of having the military finance your educatoin, once again they bring pizza. Really I think that the reoccuring theme that if you offer something that will help pre-meds find out what they need to do to get into medical school and they will show up especially if there is pizza. Also we set up a program where you can sign up and go and volunteer at a local thrift store and do blood pressure screenings. We did this in conjunction with some nursing students who had to do if for one of their classes.

 

[MonkeyNuts!]

maybe change the name of the club

premed club sounds a little dorky and you cant write that on a resume like "AED"

 

[etf]

be like berkeley and require a cumulative 3.7 to join - keeps jerks like me out.

 

[notgettingin]

I agree with drunk superman

Give workshops on the application process, the MCATs (highlight Kaplan vs Princeton vs Examcrackers), EC's, etc. All the million and one questions pre-meds might have before applying.

Also, see if you can tour a local medical school (if there is one). Bring in med students and have them talk to you about the application process. Good luck!

 

[Shpamme]

be like berkeley and require a cumulative 3.7 to join - keeps jerks like me out.

Furreal?!?! That's harsh, man.

Let's see.. my sister runs a premed club at her college, and she had a lot of guest speakers this year. She also organized a evening where she paired students up with med students from the local med school who had similar stats. Then they all sat in this room with cubicles and got one-on-one advice from people who had been in their shoes before. She also had me speak.. heh.. on my rather nontraditional route to med school. Actually, the title of my talk was "Applying to medical school with lower stats." I talked about SMP's and Postbaccs. I made up a chart with a breakdown of all the different types of programs, and what their pros and cons are, and what the structure and requirements of each program were, and gave examples of each type of program in the chart. You'd be surprised how many nonSDNers don't know that information. About 60 people showed up that day. She said it was the highest attendance they had, and I ended up having to stay 1 hour afterwards to answer questions. NOT saying all this to sound conceited, so please forgive me if it comes across that way..but I think there are a lot of kids out there who are very sad because their stats are low and they think they can't get into med school. Having a meeting like that, where you get a former SMPer or postbaccer to speak targeted to those people can get them inspired to continue and improve, and that will only encourage them to keep attending future meetings. Just one idea.. Best of luck!

 

[sunnyjohn]

Think like a premed.

What is the only thing that will get premeds to do something? The "something" has to help them get into medical school. Plain and simple. It's the #1 reason why premeds volunteer, do research, bust their butts for grades, etc etc. It's cold and seems heartless, but it is true.

So, things to get your club worth a premeds time. AED takes a while to get set up. But in the meantime you can host seminars on how to plan out an app cycle, put together mcat prep sessions, interview workshops, PS statement writing workshops as well as volunteer activities, tutoring, service opportunities etc. You said you were at a small school so it might be hard, but just take small steps for now.

Remember think like a premed and keep in mind what they want.

Yup.

1. Free Food

2. Speaker - ad com of a local med school

3. Organize an international "missions" trip so they can pad, er, enhance their applications

www.islonline.com or www.uniteforsite.org

 

[mdvargas]

Hi everyone! Our Pre-Med Club sucks so much that I want to do something about it. We barely have anything to discuss and only a few members attend them. I need ideas on how to make a Pre-Med Club appealing to members so we don't lose them! Right now we are working on bringing the club together since everyone has abandoned it (the president took a leave of absence to settle some personal issues). We haven't had a meeting in a few months.

I will appreciate all the help I can get. I want to be the difference maker !

Same issue here, the only difference is that mine is a Psy Club. Do you have what they call a "club advisor" (usually a prof. in that major)?. The one I have suggested I raise money or use some from our budget to buy GRE and MCAT study materials and have them at the library (donation = publicity), for students who need to take the test and may be low on cash. Right now I'm working on bringing in a massager, a mini health food snack bar, etc. for an event to attract new members and officers for next year, most of us in the club will be graduating in May. Good luck!

 

[MonkeyNuts!]

its easy to attract students, keeping them around is the important thing. they wont stick around unless you have something to offer their future apps.

 

[baylormed]

Pizza is an excellent idea to attract potential members. However, you want to offer them something substantial as well. Community activities or volunteering projects are great to accumulate hours and to put on an application. You might want to have days of "discussion" on medical topics and have a faculty member/guest to moderate and speak about the topic as well.

 

[HumbleMD]

Avoid pre-med clubs like the plague.

 

[baylormed]

Avoid pre-med clubs like the plague.

Um...I think this guy's asking because he is the president of said club. I would otherwise agree with your statement (I certainly stayed away from them).

 

[karmega5]

Definately provide food. I'm assuming you're from a school that doesn't have a pre-med advisor or an attached med school, since there would probably be an active group then...
Organize school blood drives; see if your school safety dept offers free CPR classes for healthcare workers; rent a van to go tour the closest med school; bring in volunteer groups to recruit (our local Hospice always brings homemade brownies); tour your hospital; start a local charity 5K run; Organize with other groups-where I am, we do health clinics for migrant farmworkers (glucose testing, sex ed, etc) and we work with spanish speakers from the Hispanic Student Union.
Bring in docs from diff specialities for meetings, do mock interviews for each other. Endless possibilities...
Best of luck!

 

[QuantumMechanic]

Avoid pre-med clubs like the plague.

agreed...I'm the president of my college's chapter and we really only do an event about twice a semester. There's only so many adcoms you can bring in...

 

[mikeinsd]

ummmm.... try doing something worthwhile (and sunnyjohn - while international missions are great, I think it might be better to start small, then think big)

check this site out - www.ucsdpass.org -

the club was started a few years back at UCSD (i just graduated last june) it is a 'pre-med' club in that most of the members are pre-med, or at least pre-health, but not exclusively pre-med) Basically the point of the club is that officers set up volunteer activities (there have been to many to list, check out the list for this quarters options) then members simply show up at certain time to catch a set-up ride to the activity... also we do social stuff etc, and at meeting there is always a panel or a speaker of some type, on a lot of different issues...

as far as I know we are the only PASS, but if anyone else is interested let me know by pm, we can talk