Biology 250A

TOPICS IN MEDICINE

FALL 2011

Monday 1200-1250

Schedule Number:20427

PSFA-350

Barbara W. Huntington, Director

Preprofessional Health Advising Office

bhunting@sunstroke.sdsu.edu

Alex Arena BrittanyCarlson Ariel Portera

topicsinmedicine@gmail.com

Prerequisites

None

Course Purpose

This credit/no credit seminar course is designed to expose premedical students to the diverse career opportunities that exist within medicine. A variety of specialists and professionals from the medical field are invited to speak each week to give students a realistic view of the profession. The speakers also have the opportunity to share their experiences as a pre-med, medical student, and resident.

In addition, students will become familiar with the medical school application process by completing an actual application and by writing a personal statement essay. Additionally, students will complete a medical related research paper.

This class is run by students with the professor acting in the role of facilitator. There are specific requirements to pass the class, but your input and enthusiasm are vital to making it a strong learning experience for you and your classmates.

Learning Objectives

• Know the various specialties of medicine
• Have some knowledge about and be able to dicsudd the requirements for admission into medical school
• Gain role models in medicine
• Develop a realistic view of medicine today and what it may be in the future
• Network with working physicians
• Become familiar with the application process
• Complete a personal statement
• Explore current issues in medicine

Text

Required:

• Huntington, Barbara and Masses, Linda, 2003. Writing About Me

Recommended:

• Iserson, K.V. 2003. Get Into Medical School (Be sure to get the 2nd Edition)
• AAMC. The New MCAT Student Manual. (130 page PDF file link is at: http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/start.htm)
• AAMC. Medical School Admission Requirements 2012-2013, United States and Canada.
• Medley, A. Sweaty Palms. 1992. Ten Speed Press.

Papers

1.  Research Paper (3 full double-spaced pages minimum)
Discuss the opposing sides of a medical ethics issue

• Guidelines: http://www.sci.sdsu.edu/preprof/WritingPapersfortheSDSUPPHAOffice.htm

• To find out what a peer-reviewed journal is, go to the Applied Health Sciences Library (http://www.library.uiuc.edu/alx/peer.htm) or http://www.systems.wsu.edu/bin/libdocs/instruction/PeerRevJourn.pdf

2. Personal Statement Essay (3-4 pages)

3. Where do you see yourself in ten years?

Evaluation

Credit/No Credit based upon:

1. Attendance

Students must attend all class sessions.  ONLY ONE UNEXCUSED ABSENCE IS ACCEPTED. Reasons for excused absences (illness, death in family) must be submitted in writing to Barbara Huntington.  Whether excused or unexcused all absences must be made up by submitting a one-page paper on the missed topic no later than one week after the absence. More than one unexcused absence will result in a grade of NCR for the course.

2. Course Work

a.  Writing Assignments: These will be collected at the beginning of the period and require the following format:

Times New Roman, 1" margins, Double Spaced, Font size 12

b.  Complete the speaker review sheet.

Link

(Please retain all copies of asignments)

3. Class Participation

Participate in asking questions and giving the speaker your undivided attention.

Speakers

Date	Speaker	Topic
August 29	Introduction to class	Course Syllabus , Discuss Topics for Paper
September 5	Holiday--No class meeting
September 12	Andrew Myerson, PA-C	Physician Assistant
September 19	Bronner Handwerger, ND	Naturopathic Medicine
September 26	History of Medicine video, Sherwin B. Nuland	History of Medicine
October 3	Neelima Chu, MD (endocrinology) and Brian Chu, MD (pediatrics)	Medical Marriage (The following site discusses the problems that may arise when in a medical marriage: http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/181_07_041004/mye10372_fm.html )
October 10	Chris Glembotski, PhD	Cardiology
October 17	Sue Hollander, Science Reference Librarian	How to find peer reviewed journals and avoid plagiarism
October 24	Paul Curry, MD	Anesthesiology
October 31	Gregg Lichtenstein, MD--SDSU Student Health Services	University Health Issues/Primary Care
November 7	Ethics Discussion	Organize in groups and present to class
November 14	William Umansky, MD	Plastic Surgery
November 21	Gregory A. Talavera, MD, MPH, Professor and Chair Division of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences-Graduate School of Public Health	Public Health
November 28	Chris Mullin, medical student at AZCOM, SDSU Alum--Osteopathic Medicine and Military Medicine	Osteopathic Medicine
December 5	Carlos J Sanchez Sanchez, MD, author, The Soul of the Condor: A Forgotten Holocaust	International Health
December 12	Pick up portfolio and do speaker evaluations --Class is at 1 pm in the usual room.	Attendance Required

Assignments

• We will return assignments the following week in class. If you fail to pick them up, we will keep them for one week in the PPHA office where they may be picked up from the class mailbox. After that, they will be thrown away.
• Health care professionals are held to a high ethical standard. Please be aware of the school’s policy on academic dishonesty requiring professors to report all cases of academic dishonesty.

Date Due

Assignment

September 12

1. Print out an interest sheet stating: (1) the field you are interested in (specialty, allopathic or osteopathic) (2) your major (3) the year you expect to enter medical school

2. Obtain an AMCAS or AACOMAS application, print and submit the sections on biographical data to the class coordinators. Do not include social security number. You may leave your address or parental data blank, but make sure your name is on the form. Do not submit your application to the service and remember to save all your work to a disk.

3. Read Chapter 1 of Writing About Me.

4. Submit ½ to 1 page on a medical specialty of your interest. Discuss the years of training required, typical numbers of work hours per week, types of patients seen, problems facing the profession, etc.

September 19

1.       Read Chapter 2 of Writing About Me and do Self Assessment Step #1 (What I have done/need to do) Worksheet pp. 6-12.

2.        Complete and turn in the AMCAS or AACOMAS sections that include colleges attended, awards, honors, activities, work and volunteer activity.

3.       Turn in thesis statement for ethics paper.

September 26

1.      Personal Statement Starter 1 (1 page):Describe a personal role model. What attributes of that person do you admire? How would those attributes make a good physician?
2.       Read Chapter 3 of Writing About Me and do Self Assessment Step #2 (Professional Values) Worksheet pp. 13-15.

October 3

Read Chapter 4 of Writing About Me and do Self Assessment Step #3 (Characteristics of profession) Worksheet pp. 21-22.

October 10

1.       Write a ½ to 1 page paper discussing alternative/preventative medicine. How do they compare to allopathic medicine? Discuss anything interesting you may find about the medicine.
2.      Read Chapter 5 of Writing About Me.

October 17

1.      Complete the AMCAS or AACOMAS section on academic records. Show all work completed, in progress and planned.
2.      Read Chapter 6 of Writing About Me.

October 24

Research Paper(3 page minimum + cited sources--peer reviewed journals)

Discuss the opposing sides of a medical ethics issue. Expand on an ethical issue including thesis statement. Support your viewpoint along with contrasting viewpoints. You must have citations within the text and a reference page.!

For any of the topics, include an additional reference page with at least three sources on a separate sheet.
Use Guidelines for Writing Papers for the Pre-professional Health Advising Office. To find out what a peer-reviewed journal is, go to the Applied Health Sciences Library.

Submit your paper through SafeAssign on Blackboard. (Mac users may need to use Firefox rather than Safari.)

October 31

Read Chapter 7 of Writing About Me and complete Self Assessment Step #4 (Professional Goals) and #5 (How do I look now?) Worksheet pp. 23-24.|

November 7

Personal Statement Starter 2 (1 page): What attributes, skills or experiences make you unique? What pivotal experience(s) made you want to be a doctor? If you don’t have a specific experience, what made you decide that you want to become a doctor? How did you test your desire to become a physician (Volunteering? Research? Clinical experience? Shadowing?) Include any special instances where you felt inspired or enthusiastic about medicine.

November 14

Personal Statement rough draft (3-4 pages)

The personal statement is required of all applying medical students.  The paper will be a testament of your ambition to become a doctor and is also the preliminary opportunity medical school admission officers will have to get to know you. After you receive this back, you will resubmit with corrections as part of your final portfolio.

November 21

Ten year paper: Where do you see yourself in 10 years? (A common secondary application question.)

Where do you see yourself in ten years from the time you apply to medical school? Where is the medical field (area, specialty, location, hospital/private or group practice)? Where in your personal life? What will you have accomplished? Do you know exactly what you want to do? Why or why not? Keep an open mind when explaining where you think you will be. Don't limit your future by narrowing your options. (1-2 pages) You will probably see this question again on your secondary applications.

November 28

Personal Portfolio/Final Exam: Submit a personal portfolio including: 

A) A completed medical school application (AMCAS or AACOMAS) including your revised personal statement and course list (all classes--past, current, and planned.)

B) A one page discussion of other career paths that could be taken by someone with your training.

December 5

Top Five Schools:

A) Choose five medical schools you would like to apply to.
B) List the requirements for each medical school. (MCAT, GPA, prerequisites, etc.) 
C) What makes this school unique (special programs, research, hospitals, residencies, etc)
D) Explain why you want to go to this medical school.

December 12

Class will meet at 1 pm (briefly) in the usual room.

1.        Pick up graded portfolio.
2.        Speaker evaluations.

*Please retain copies of everything you turn and remember to put your name on all of your assignments.