Non-Academic Preparation
Volunteer Experience in the Health Care Field
Professional schools feel "real life" experience in the healthcare field is critical to a preprofessional student's preparation to enter professional school for a variety of reasons including validation of the career decision and demonstrated commitment to the profession.
The following are a few of the more frequently utilized campus resources available to help a preprofessional student get started in developing volunteer credentials.
Service Learning Center
The Service Learning Center can assist preprofessional students in locating volunteer experiences to match interests and professional goals.The Olin Health Advocate Program
Olin Health Advocates are peer educators who present health information to student groups, organize information distribution sites and coordinate health-related activities. Health Advocates earn academic credit for their involvement.
Medically-Related Student Organizations
Become involved with a medically-related student organization on campus. A complete listing of all student organizations can be found at the Dept. of Student Life.
Suggested Readings for Preprofessional Students
- Balint, Michael. The Doctor, His Patient, and the Illness.
- Bosk, CL. Forgive and Remember: Managing Medical Failure.
- Colby, Anne and Damon, William. Some Do Care.
- Fromm, Erich. On Being Human.
- Kleinman, Arthur. Illness Narratives.
- Kurtz, Paul. The Fullness of Life.
- Ludmerer, Kenneth. Learning to Heal.
- Maulitz, Russell. Grand Rounds: One Hundred Years of Internal Medicine.
- Pellegrino, Edmund. Humanism and the Physician.
- Pelzer, Dave. A Child Called It.
- Reiser, SJ and Anber, M. The Machine at the Bedside: Strategies for Using Technology.
- Sacks, Oliver. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.
- Selzer Richard. Letters to a Young Doctor and Mortal Lessons: Notes on the Art of Surgery.
- Thomas, Lewis. The Youngest Science.
- Williams, William Carlos. The Doctors Stories.