The first and second floors of the W.E. Upjohn M.D. Campus were abuzz in November as 200 pre-medical students gathered to learn more about the medical school admissions process from deans and admissions directors from Michigan’s seven medical schools.
The annual full-day event, known as Michigan Medical Education Day (MMED), took place on Saturday, November 8. Since 2011, the event has rotated locations at schools around the state, and this year marked the first time that the festivities were hosted at WMU Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine (WMed).
“It’s a really unique event,” WMed Director of Admissions Val Horwath said. “All seven medical schools from across the state come together for one day to work collaboratively and exclusively for the betterment of students who are on a pre-med track and interested in taking those next steps toward applying to medical school.”
The event offered up plenty of activities for the students who attended, including a Q&A panel with admissions directors that included Horwath, as well as representatives from the state’s six other medical schools – Central Michigan University College of Medicine; Michigan State University College of Human Medicine; Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine; Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine; University of Michigan Medical School, and Wayne State University School of Medicine.
Attendees also had the chance to attend sessions aimed at honing their interview skills and a Q&A panel with medical students was also offered. The event also included a session about best practices for how to frame a medical school application, a session run by medical students that provided insights on how to prepare for medical school with job-shadow experiences and community service work, as well as time to mingle and network with fellow pre-medical students from around the state.
In addition to the pre-medical students, who represented 19 colleges from across the state, attendees included pre-health and pre-medical advisors from nine undergraduate institutions, including Adrian College; Central Michigan University; Hillsdale College; Michigan State University; Oakland University; Saginaw Valley State University; University of Detroit Mercy; University of Michigan, and Wayne State University.
“The students received a lot of full-scope application advice,” Horwath said. “It’s one thing to read a FAQ page on a medical school’s website, but this event provided students the opportunity to hear the context behind that and actual recommendations from admissions leaders that they can put into practice.”
For the students who attended Michigan Medical Education Day, the time spent proved worthwhile and insightful.
“MMED was a great experience and definitely worth the time,” one student attendee said. “The presentations were, overall, incredibly valuable and echoed much of what I had been hearing from my own advisers, which was reassuring. I found hearing from admissions representatives to be the most valuable if for no other reason than to remind myself that admissions officers are real people who want me to be successful in my journey to a career in medicine.”
Horwath said the event gave WMed leaders a chance to showcase the medical school, as students were given the opportunity to tour the W.E. Upjohn M.D. Campus to round out Michigan Medical Education Day.
“Hosting the event offered a fantastic opportunity to welcome a large number of pre-medical students and their advisors to WMed. They got to see our community environment in real life, and our WMed community is one of the things that we think sets us apart the most,” she said.