On the Path to Medical School

Student lead: This is a course for all prospective pre-medical students, including undergraduate and graduate students, who seek knowledge and guidance on their path to medical school, with an opt-in component to work alongside (remotely during Covid-19) doctors in the Emergency Room at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. Discussions, presentations, and lectures will help students discover how to integrate service with pursuing medicine, whether the pre-medical path is right for them, and if so, how best to navigate the pre-med requirements. In addition, in collaboration with physician advisors and medical students, we have designed a series of presentations on topics including strategically approaching pre-medical classes and extracurriculars, studying for the MCAT, optimizing the medical school application, preparing for medical school interviews, and evidence-based pros and cons of careers in medicine and differences between specialties. This course is a one-stop-shop for getting all the information needed to become an efficient, successful pre-medical student while also gaining clinical experience as students consider whether medicine is right for them and navigate the path to medical school. Currently, to our knowledge, there are no classes directly targeted towards guiding students at every stage of the premed path in this way while also providing an active volunteer learning experience, and yet pre-meds are among the largest group of pre-professional students at Stanford. Due to COVID, our active volunteer component is on hold for the summer. Must be a member of SCOPE, please apply at https://scope.beagooddoctor.org/apply/