Welcome to Health Professions

The Health Professions Committee, which was started by Dr. Miles D. McCarthy in 1960, has helped hundreds of students gain admission to health professions schools. With the program that Dr. McCarthy created, there has been more than 85% of students admitted to professional schools. Some of our students have gained entry into some of the nation’s most prestigious schools including Harvard, Stanford, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, as well as UC campuses. We hope that you can become a piece of our history while embarking on your life long dream of becoming a health professional.

New Button Announcements

  • Spring Semester Hours of Operation

    Monday: 8 A.M. - 5 P.M.
    Tuesday: 8 A.M. - 5 P.M.
    Wednesday: 8 A.M. - 5 P.M.
    Thursday: 8 A.M. - 5 P.M.
    Friday: By Appointment Only
  • Same Day Appointments

    Same Day Appointments typically occur:

    Mondays and Wednesdays: 11-1

    To schedule a same day appointment, please visit our online scheduler, hpadvising.genbook.com, starting at 8 A.M. on the scheduled days.
  • Dr. Ron Berezniak, a representative from Lake Eric College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM), will be visiting our campus on Tuesday, February 21st from 4 P.M. onward in McCarthy Hall (MH) 512. Dr. Berezniak will be presenting on problem based learning methods. If you would like further information on his visit please contact us at hppostbac@fullerton.edu.
  • Are you interested in applying for a 50% discount on an MCAT prep course through Kaplan or a set of books and study materials from The Princeton Review? Individuals interested in the offers above, please complete the application and submit it by Thursday, February 23, 2012.
  • Letters of recommendation must be submitted with the new Reference Request Guide and Form.
  • MCAT 2015: learn about it here.
  • Shadowing Opportunity Application
    Are you interested in shadowing a practicing professional to enhance your awareness of your desired profession? The Health Professions Advising office has a list of alumni and professionals that are willing to allow our students to shadow them. Please complete the application and submit the necessary supplemental documents to apply for a shadowing position. To download the application, click here.

 

 

Student of the Week

Nathan Bales

Nathan Bales
About me:

I graduated from CSUF in May of 2011, and I majored in Cell and Developmental biology. Cal State Fullerton was a good fit for me because it was affordable, really placed an emphasis on students, and had a great pre-health advising office. After meeting and interacting with a huge number of applicants during interviews, I think that there are a few qualities that are very common when it comes to being successful in the medical school application process. These include good grades and test scores, clinical experiences, passions in areas completely separate from medicine, substantive research experience (usually), and early application.

My first piece of advice is to get good grades. It is very, very difficult to get into medical school without a respectable GPA. Extracurriculars can’t make up for bad grades, and while ECs can always be improved, it’s difficult to bring up a bad GPA. As far as the MCAT, I think it’s really an opportunity to make yourself stand out, and in many cases is more important than your grades. The “competition” when it comes to admissions will include graduates from Harvard, Yale, Stanford, MIT, Caltech, Columbia, and other similarly ranked schools (you’ll see them at every interview). It’s a validation of practically your entire education if you can best these students on the MCAT. I would advise doing thousands of practice problems, focusing on taking practice exams under real conditions (AAMC, Kaplan, and Berkeley Review all offer practice tests).

I’m a firm believer that longevity and commitment in extracurriculars will get you pretty far in medical school admissions. I’ve been told by several admissions committee members that too many applicants “check the boxes” when it comes to their activities, spending a few hours volunteering at one place, a month at another, trying to pad resumes without ever really doing anything substantial. When you find something you like, stay there. Do something there, get promoted, fix problems, make changes. Clinical experience is absolutely essential, and I recommend the Clinical Care Extenders Program in Long Beach. I was there for several years, and I feel that I got an awesome overview of medicine in general while volunteering in the OR, ER, NICU, outpatient surgery center, and pediatrics department (among others). I found that I was really interested in neonatal medicine, so I became the volunteer coordinator for the neonatal intensive care unit. I also think it’s important to find something you like away from school, the hospital, or the lab. For me, it was volunteering at the Orange County Animal Care Shelter. I’m a big animal person, and the shelter was a place where I enjoyed being.

Most successful medical school applicants have done research. If you think you might be interested in research, there are quite a few opportunities at CSUF. Publications are not necessary, but it’s great to have something to show for your work (this might be a poster presentation at a conference). I did research for a few years in the lab of Dr. Chandra Srinivasan in the biochemistry department at CSUF, then was accepted to the Bridges to Stem Cell Research (BSCR) program run by Dr. Nilay Patel. The BSCR program was amazing, and I got to do some very interesting research with Dr. Alison Miyamoto, followed by a full-time research internship at CHOC with Dr. Phil Schwartz. The BSCR, HHMI, and SCERP programs are definitely worth looking into.

Finally, I really encourage applicants to apply early. The benefits of applying in June are huge. Ask for your letters of recommendation early enough that they’ll be ready when you are, not the other way around. Get a few people to read over your personal statement. When it comes to interviews, dress nicely and try to be passionate about who you are and what you’ve done. Medical school interviews are a lot less scary than they sound. I didn’t do any mock interviews, but they might be helpful for calming the nerves. I’m always available to answer any questions about my experiences with the application process (nathanielbales@gmail.com). It’s a little daunting, but so worth it!

Click here to view previous students of the week.