WASHINGTON & JEFFERSON COLLEGE
PRE-HEALTH NEWSLETTER
Issue 398 October 20154
MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE ON PRE-HEALTH PROFESSIONS COMMITTEE:
Dr. Mark Harris, Chair / Dr. Ronald Bayline / Dr. Steven Malinak / Dr. Michael WolfDr. Patricia Brletic, Secretary
Dr. Anupama Shanmuganathan, / Dr. Danielle Ficco
Dr. Alice Lee / Dr. Kathleen McEvoy
Dr. Stan Myers / Dr. Roman Wong
Vice-Chair
Website
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The Committee on Pre-Health ProfessionsCommittee maintains an informational website at . The website includes the Pre-Health Handbook, recent copies of this newsletter, descriptions of pre-professional programs, links to internship and volunteer opportunities, and information about our various affiliations with health professional schools. Please take a look at this resource.
Contact Information
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To contact the Committee on Pre-Health Professions Committee, please feel free to send an email to . or call 724-503-1001 x 3355. You may also directly contact the Committee Chair, Dr. Mark Harris, at 724-223-6134 or at .
Dieter-Porter Medical Lecture
. The annual Dieter-Porter Medical Lecture on Homecoming Weekend will be presented in 2014 on Saturday, October 10, 201525th. Dr. Ed FrohlichAmy Seman Hartman, PhD ’9852 will present “Effects of Sodium on Heart HealthFrom Swine Flu to Ebola: Emerging Viruses in a Globalized Age.,” and Dr. Linda Bogar ’89 will present “The Current Era of Heart Transplantation and Cardiac Circulatory Assist Devices: The Rise of the Machines.” The lecture will be held in the Dieter-Porter Lecture Hall at 8:30 am. Current students, faculty, and alumni are encouraged to attend the presentation and to stay around after the presentation to catch up with fellow alumni, W&J faculty, and current students.
New Affiliation Agreements with Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine. Early this fall W&J and LECOM signed affiliation agreements in which, W&J students may be accepted into the LECOM Early Assurance Program (EAP). The agreements provide guaranteed seats for W&J students into LECOM programs in osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, and dentistry – up to five seats per program per year. Students who meet the academic requirements of the program must be accepted before completion of the sophomore year at W&J, and even high school seniors who are accepted to W&J are eligible to apply. Students may apply to enroll in the EAP by following the link Affiliated Undergraduate College Inquiry found on the LECOM website at: My LECOM Portal (
New Affiliation Agreements with Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine
In the fall of 2014 W&J and LECOM signed affiliation agreements in which W&J students may be accepted into the LECOM Early Assurance Program (EAP). The agreements provide guaranteed seats for W&J students into LECOM programs in osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, and dentistry – up to five seats per program per year. Students who meet the academic requirements of the program must be accepted before completion of the sophomore year at W&J, and even high school seniors who are accepted to W&J are eligible to apply. Students may apply to enroll in the EAP by following the link “Affiliated Undergraduate College Inquiry” found on the LECOM website at: My LECOM Portal ( This year we have our first LECOM EAP students – a freshman and a junior.Last Offerings of the Current MCAT Exam. The last offerings of the current version of the MCAT will be in January 2015. Additional test dates have been added to meet the anticipated demand by students who wish to take the current version of the test.
Changes to the MCAT Exam starting in 2015. Major changes to the MCAT exam will start in April 2015 with a new exam to be called MCAT2015. The new exam will have 4 sections:
1) Biological & Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems,
2) Chemical & Physical Foundations of Biological Systems,
3) Psychological, Social & Biological Foundations of Behavior, and 4) Critical Analysis & Reasoning Skills.
All sections of the test will be based upon the following principles: 1) Knowledge of Scientific Concepts and Principles,
2) Scientific Reasoning and Evidence-based Problem Solving,
3) Reasoning about the Design and Execution of Research,
and 4) Data-based and Statistical Reasoning.
The exam will expand from 144 test items and a writing sample to 255 test items and no writing sample to allow medical schools to have more accurate information about performance on each section of the exam. The length of the exam will expand from 4 hours, 20 minutes to 6 hours, 15 minutes and will require the addition of a lunch break halfway through the exam, making for a test day of at least 7 hours in length (plus travel time).
New Affiliation Agreement with Chatham University OT Program
W&J recently signed an agreement with Chatham University guaranteeing up to two seats per year in Chatham’s Masters of Occupational Therapy program for W&J graduates who meet stated requirements. This is similar to the agreements that W&J has with Chatham’s graduate programs in Physician Assistant Studies and Physical Therapy.
New Pre-Health Alumni Advisory Council Poster Award
Students presenting scientific research posters before and after the Homecoming Dieter-Porter Medical Lecture were eligible to compete for a “best poster award” this year. Posters were reviewed by members of the faculty and the Advisory Council, and cash prizes were awarded by the Advisory Council.
Changes to the MCAT Exam starting in 2015
The long awaited new MCAT exam known as MCAT2015 was introduced this past April. The new exam has an increased emphasis on biochemistry, statistics, the behavioral sciences, and integration of knowledge. The four sections of the exam are:
1) Biological & Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems,
2) Chemical & Physical Foundations of Biological Systems,
3) Psychological, Social & Biological Foundations of Behavior, and 4) Critical Analysis & Reasoning Skills.
The new exam went from 144 test items and a writing sample to 255 test items and no writing sample to allow medical schools to have more accurate information about performance on each section of the exam. The length of the exam expanded to 6 hours and 15 minutes, requiring the addition of a lunch break halfway through the exam and making for a test day of over 7 hours in length (plus travel time). The grading scheme has also changed. Possible scores range from 472 to 528, with the target average score being a 500.
Students taking the traditional pre-medical curriculum at W&J will be well-prepared for the Biological & Biochemical, Chemical & Physical, and Critical Analysis sections of the exam with no change in our current pre-medical coursework. With a stronger emphasis on principles of biochemistry on the exam, however, students will be highly encouraged to complete the Biochemistry course on campus before taking the MCAT exam.
The new Psychological, Social, & Biological Foundations section of the exam that asks students to understand the behavioral and socio-cultural determinants of health and health outcomes will require additional coursework for W&J students. The PSY 101 and 102 courses at W&J are a close match to the AAMC learning objectives for this section. We will also recommend that students take SOC 101 and also consider additional SOC coursework and review to prepare for the sociological section of the exam.
Current junior pre-medical students at W&J will, in almost every case, be the first group of W&J students eligible to take the MCAT2015exam in Spring 2015. Current senior students who elect to take the MCAT exam during or after the spring of their senior year would also take the MCAT2015exam.
You can read more about the rationale for the changes to the MCAT exam, as well as download a very detailed preview guide for the MCAT2015 exam, at the AAMC website:
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SUMMARY OF ACCEPTANCES FOR STUDENTS MATRICULATING 201541.Allopathic Schools
Number
Name of SchoolAccepted
Commonwealth ...... 21
Drexel...... 1
George WashingtonNYU...... 1
4
Jefferson...... 1
TempleMarshall...... 1
Northeast Ohio...... 1
NYU...... 1
Penn State ...... 21
Rutgers...... 1
Temple...... 1
Texas Tech...... 1
Toledo...... 1
U of Pittsburgh...... 1
West Virginia...... 2
Wright State...... 1
TOTAL...... 135
Total # Individual Students
Accepted...... 79
2.Osteopathic Schools
Number
Name of SchoolAccepted
Alabama COM ...... 1
Arizona COM of Midwestern Univ ...... 1
Kansas City (KCU-COM) ...... 1
Univ of Pikeville-Kentucky (UP-KYCOM) ...... 1
Lake Erie (LECOM) ...... 4
LibertyOhio University (OU-HCOM)...... 12
Nova Southeastern...... 1
Philadelphia (PCOM) ...... 23
PCOM- Georgia...... 1
West Virginia (WVSOM)...... 35
TOTAL...... 1516
Total Number Individual Students
Accepted...... 11
3.Dental Schools
Number
Name of SchoolAccepted
West Virginia ...... 1
TOTAL...... 1
Total Number Individual Students
Accepted...... 1
3.Chiropractic Schools
Number
Name of SchoolAccepted
Logan ...... 1
TOTAL...... 1
Total Number Individual Students
Accepted...... 1
4.Dental Schools
Number
Name of SchoolAccepted
Nova Southeastern ...... 1
TOTAL...... 1
Total Number Individual Students
Accepted...... 1
5....... Occupational Therapy Schools
Number
Name of SchoolAccepted
Chatham ...... 1
Salus ...... 1
TOTAL...... 2
Total Number Individual Students
Accepted...... 1
64.Foreign MedicalOptometry Schools
Number
Name of SchoolAccepted
Penn College of Optometry at Salus URoss...... 21
TOTAL...... 21
Total Number Individual Students
Accepted...... 21
75.Physician Assistant Schools
Number
Name of SchoolAccepted
ChathamSt. Francis...... 21
TOTAL...... 21
Total Number Individual Students
Accepted...... 21
86.Podiatry SchoolsPhysical Therapy
Number
Name of SchoolAccepted
Kent StateChatham...... 1
Ohio State...... 1
Slippery Rock...... 1
Western UU of Pittsburgh...... 1
TOTAL...... 42
Total Number Individual Students
Accepted...... 21
97.Veterinary Medicine Schools
Number
Name of SchoolAccepted
Kansas StateIllinois...... 1
MissouriOhio State...... 1
RossOklahoma...... 1
RossTufts...... 12
U Penn...... 12
TOTAL...... 57
Total # Individual Students
Accepted...... 3
TWELVE-YEAR SUMMARY OF ACCEPTANCESCLASS
'04‘03 / ‘05'04 / ‘06‘05 / ‘07‘06 / ‘08‘07 / ‘09‘08 / ‘10‘09 / ‘11‘10 / ‘12‘11 / ‘13‘12 / ‘14‘13 / ‘15‘14
# of Students Recommended to Health Professions Schools / 1715 / 2317 / 2323 / 2323 / 3723 / 3137 / 3631 / 2736 / 3627 / 3336 / 3233 / 3132
# of Students Accepted / 1414 / 2014 / 2220 / 1722 / 3217 / 2432 / 3224 / 2332 / 3023 / 2430 / 2624 / 2926
Acceptance Rate (%) / 8293 / 8782 / 9687 / 7496 / 8774 / 7787 / 8977 / 8589 / 8385 / 7383 / 8173 / 9481