Question For University of Pittsburgh Pre-Meds

[gauss2005]

Hello. I attended the Univ of Pittsburgh about 15 years ago before going off to Medical School and then completing an Orthopaedic Surgery Residency. I am now a Board-Certified Orthopaedic Surgeon. You guys have an exciting path ahead of you. Keep Studying Hard! Have Fun!.........Anyway..........My daughter will be a Freshman this Fall at PITT and plans/hopes to go on to medical school as well. A couple of questions if you do not mind.

1) Where do the "pre-med folks" study these days? Still at Scaife Hall? (obviously they prob study all over campus, but Scaife was a pretty popular pre-med hangout/study area when I attended Pitt).

2) Any Pre-Med Groups/Organizations you would recommend?

3) As far as completing the medical school pre-reqs, are there any professors that you particularly liked (or disliked) especially as far as his/her teaching style related to preparation for the MCAT?

4) I obviously took the "old" MCAT so gotta find out what the "NEW" MCAT is all about? Thoughts?

5) Any docs at the medical school/hospital that have simple type freshman-level projects that a freshman could participate in? You know, like counting up dots on a petri dish on the weekend?

6) Any links, websites, forums where "opportunities" are posted for pre-meds to volunteer, participate in research, shadow etc?

7) Also, I have been "out of the loop" for several years, when do most pre-meds take the MCAT? During 3rd year I'm guessing/trying to remember...

8) Any other info, thoughts, suggestions, ideas will be appreciated.

Thank you very much and I greatly appreciate your time reading and possibly responding.

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[GrapesofRath]

I graduated Pitt not too long ago and am getting ready to apply to med school so I can probably help you out with some of this stuff

1) Hillman is the big spot library wise for everybody, Scaife is more of a med school/dental school/pharm school student kind of thing but I do go to Scaife sometimes.

2) AMSA is the big pre med club at Pitt. I'd say organization wise any group that provides opportunities to do service is a good bet. Some of the ones I know alot of people were involved with which provided unique experiences were Habitat for Humanity, APO service fraternity, a couple medicine related service groups who's names I don't exactly remember, student government board and others I can't think of off the top of my head. Research is obviously probably the biggest activity all pre med's at Pitt get involved in, the sooner the better for sure.

3) Ah professors. I won't say anything negatively about any publicly( if your interested in some I'd recommend avoiding private message me) so I'll give you the ones I like. For OCHEM I had Dr. Horne and he was certainly about as easy as you can expect an Ochem prof to be. Very straightforward and didn't try to trick students. I'd definitely recommend. Dr. Huston is also a good option as is Dr. Curran. For Gen Chem if Dr. Golde still teaches he's a great option as is Dr. Martucci if he still teaches. Bio 1 and 2 you'll hear alot of people complain about at Pitt and there's validity to their claims. The best of the crop to me are Dr. Bledsoe and Dr. Zapanta. For Physics I had Dr. Naples and she was also one of the easier options available. Bio and Ochem are the hardest of the pre-reqs for sure. I was a neuroscience major so if your daughter is interested in that field I can definitely give you more info about it. Don't try to pick teachers based on how well they prepare you for the MCAT, how well someone does is about their own prep and abilities not how well a teacher taught a class. Trust me, it sounds hard to believe perhaps but the difference between a great bio teacher vs a poor one at Pitt won't really change anything about helping or hurting your MCAT prep.

4) I haven't taken the new MCAT yet, there's an entire forum here on this site discussing everything about it, that's your best bet for resources and info.

5) There is a first experiences in research program that matches freshmen with potential research mentors. I personally don't think that's the best way to go about getting a research project that you can work on independently and that can make a difference for med school admission. By and large alot of people I know who got put in that did exactly what you said "just count cells on petri dishes, wash lab equipment etc" as opposed to actually working on a project. The best way to get a substantial research opportunity is to cold call email professors, see if there are any openings in their labs, and talk to them about what kind of opportunities they have for you and what you can get out of their lab. The sooner you join a lab and can get into actual research, it also allows you to apply for research fellowship programs over the summer which are paid and the types of things that help med school applications.

6) No real links or websites, there is a pre med advising committee that can help with this but they get mixed reviews to say the least. Best bet like I said is to email email email, be proactive, professors, doctors and researchers if you show interest will be willing to help you out. Talking with upperclassmen is also a really good way to get important information and tips you won't get otherwise and they can point you in the right direction in ways no professor or advisor can. I'd strongly recommend using them as a resource.

 

[gauss2005]

Thanks for the response.

 

[deleted472157]

Sent you a PM, you can probably access it on your profile page.

 

[gauss2005]

thanks