Pre-Health Conference Prepares Students for Careers in Health Care

The American Medical Students Association will host 9th annual pre-health conference.
Dr. Holton teaches students basic skills in suturing using pigs' feet.

Dr. Holton teaches students basic skills in suturing using pigs' feet.

Although Georgia Tech is known predominantly as an engineering school, a significant portion of the student population plans to pursue careers outside of engineering. One of those fields is health care.

Currently, more than 1,500 students have specified a pre-health interest, and this number continues to grow each year. Majoring in areas such as biochemistry, biology, biomedical engineering, and business, these students strive to be competitive candidates for medical school and master’s programs in a variety of healthcare professions.

The Georgia Tech chapter of the American Medical Students Association (AMSA) is a student organization dedicated to preparing pre-health students for their healthcare careers. This week, AMSA will host its 9th annual pre-health conference.

The AMSA conference will feature Valerie Montgomery Rice, president of Morehouse School of Medicine, as keynote speaker. Georgia Tech professors Bill Todd, Jennifer Singh, and David Ku will also speak. This year, more than 65 professional schools from around the country will be in attendance, including all four Georgia medical schools. The schools represent a variety of professional programs such as medical, osteopathic, nursing, dental, physician assistant, pharmacy, and more.

“I attended the conference my freshman year and what I loved most about it was the opportunity to learn, engage, and speak with representatives and students who are currently in the field of healthcare,” said Jane Puntkattalee, AMSA conference co-coordinator.

Students have the opportunity to attend sessions and panel discussions featuring admissions representatives, current medical and dental students, and professors. In addition to the sessions, the conference will offer hands-on suture workshops and mock interviews hosted by admission reps.

“I especially enjoyed the ‘Life as a Health Student’ and ‘Women in Healthcare’ workshops, as they motivated me to really learn more about the profession that I was planning on going in to,” said Puntkattalee.

The event will be held in the Klaus Advanced Computing Building from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 7. The pre-health conference is open to all students in Georgia, but Georgia Tech students receive a discount. To register, visit www.gtamsa.org/conference-registration.html.

 

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