Club hosts one-on-one interactions with IU Med School students

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The daunting process of applying to medical school is a little easier thanks to Indiana University Medical School and a student club on campus.

The American Medical Student Association, or AMSA for short, will host a One on One with an Indiana University School of Medicine Student Thursday in Rawls Hall. The event is open to all students.

Saad Ali, the president of AMSA, said his club wants to provide students with a unique chance to interact with medical students on a more personal basis.

The advice from medical students can be very helpful for pre-medical students, as they have very recently gone through the same grueling process of applying to medical school, Ali said.

Amy Terstriep, Purdues director of pre-professional advising, assists students considering professional careers in law, dental and various medical fields. She previously served as Purdues health professions adviser. Although Purdue doesnt release its undergraduates medical school admission statistics, she said the individual student profile is what matters.

Its based on what youve managed to accomplish as an undergrad, Terstriep said, but we have quite a few students every year that are successful getting in.

The basic requirements for medical school are a small first step among a plethora of suggested preparations.

A lot of it has to do with grades and aptitude test scores There are a number of other things the (medical) schools will look at including volunteer work, observing professionals in the field Terstriep continued. They like to see research. They look at communication skills and leadership.

Ali also stressed the importance of grade point averages, even for an in-state school such as Indiana University.

The average GPA for the 2013 entering class at (Indiana University School of Medicine) was 3.73, Ali said. Typically, in order be considered a competitive applicant, Medical Schools are looking for a 3.6 GPA or higher. There are, however, students who do get into Medical School with GPAs lower than a 3.6. However, the MCAT scores and extracurricular activities need to balance the scale.

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Club hosts one-on-one interactions with IU Med School students

Medical school student Jones to compete in triathlon nationals

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Balancing medical school and triathlon training may not be the easiest thing in the world, but thats not stopping Dan Jones.

Jones, a fourth-year Columbia medical student, will compete at the Collegiate National Championship in Tempe, Ariz., this weekend after placing second overall in the Northeast Collegiate Triathlon Conference. The event features the nations top male and female collegiate traithletes, and is put on by USA Triathlon, the sports national governing body. Jones will compete in the mens olympic distance race, which consists of 1.5 kilometers of swimming, 40 kilometers of biking, and 10 kilometers of running.

A varsity swimmer at Harvard as an undergraduate, Jones will be competing against another former Crimson swimmer in Arizonahis twin brother, William. William Jones, currently a graduate student at University of California, San Diego, has competed in this particular race before. But this will be Dan Jones first time.

My personal goal is to try to stay with him in swim and then try to kind of hang with him on the bike, Dan Jones said. Hes going to blow me away on the runI know thatso Ive been working on each discipline with him in mind. Hes got a few years of training on me.

Jones was invited to Nationals after coming in second in Columbias conference last year, finishing behind a sponsored, professional athlete.

Columbia competes in five or six races in the fall. The winner of each race gets a score of 150 points, and each successive finish is worth two fewer points. Each athletes three best scores are used in determining standings within the conference. The conference then sends the top the top seven male individuals and male teams and top six female individuals and female teams to nationals.

Jones sporadically competed with Columbias triathlon team when he started medical school. But it was only recently that he found a way to balance the demands of triathlon training with his schoolwork, partly by enrolling in physical education electives at Columbia to help him train.

Jones, who completed an Ironman triathlon last summer, also uses weekly practices with Columbias team as part of his training regimen.

Its incredibly helpful being with other people, Jones said. Im somebody that feeds off getting pushed and somebody being faster than me, so its something that definitely motivates you. Its something that keeps you in check, so youre not cutting your workout short.

Taylor Fogg, CC 17, and Ada Rubin, BC 12who placed third and sixth respectively among womenalso qualified for Nationals, but will not be making the trip to Arizona. As a whole, the Columbia womens team took fourth place behind United States Coast Guard, Army, and Boston University. The mens team placed 13th in the conference, above both Harvard and Yale. Columbia finished seventh overall, making it the highest-ranked Ivy League team.

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Medical school student Jones to compete in triathlon nationals

Ohio State medical school looks to next 100 years

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Education Blog Education databases Helpful Links By Collin Binkley The Columbus Dispatch Thursday April 3, 2014 5:20 AM

The first medical students at Ohio State University spent their days in one building, observing as experts showed them how to treat injuries, infections and other top troubles of the time. There were fewer than 40 students.

That was 100 years ago. Today, students come in classes of more than 200 and work with patients from their first year. They learn across a sprawling medical campus to treat chronic ailments that have grown in complexity.

Ohio State stood the test of time, said Dr. Daniel Clinchot, vice dean for medical education at the OSU College of Medicine.

The college is kicking off its centennial celebration today with a ceremony and discussion panel at 11 a.m. in Meiling Hall. Speakers will include the CEO of the Wexner Medical Center at OSU and the dean of the College of Medicine. The ceremony starts a series of events examining the schools past and future.

If you look at its history over the past century, it has been an innovator and leader in medical education, said Dr. Christopher Ellison, vice dean for clinical affairs at the college and chairman of surgery at the medical center.

Amid a shortage of physicians during World War II, the college offered a two-year medical degree to train more doctors. It responded to another shortage in the 1970s by letting students study independently, without lectures, Ellison said.

The university founded the college in 1914 after leaders of the Starling-Ohio Medical College handed their school over to the state. They wanted to transfer it to Ohio State amid sweeping changes in medical education.

There were no racial minorities and only one woman in the class of 1915. Today, about half of students are women and 20 percent are minorities. Last year, it was ranked the No. 14 public medical school by U.S. News and World Report.

As medicine evolved, the schools focus has shifted from the treatment of acute injuries, such as broken bones and gunshot wounds, to chronic illnesses such as diabetes and cancer. Now, as researchers and physicians explore the genetics behind diseases, the next step is to find cures, Clinchot said.

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Ohio State medical school looks to next 100 years