Students recently founded the Pre-Health Professionals Club, a new student organization dedicated to creating a community for pre-health students.
Loren Matrone and Emily Hernandez, cell and molecular biology juniors, founded the club Feb. 17, and it has already hosted an official meeting.
The club’s purpose is to give pre-health students a community and a chance to share information on applications and programs for pre-health students looking to go into a variety of health professions.
Matrone and Hernandez said they decided to create the club partway through the fall 2019 semester after noticing a lack of opportunities for pre-health students to gather and exchange information.
“Other clubs on campus were not providing the things we needed, so we came together to make this,” Hernandez said.
Helen Gaudin, professor of biology and associate dean of biology, serves as faculty advisor. While the exact number of official members has not yet been determined, Matrone and Hernandez said their first official meeting had an attendance of 25 members, over double the number of starting members.
The organization was originally created with a membership of 10 students and a governing body of seven students. Matrone and Hernandez are currently serving as president and vice president of the club, respectively.
Gaudin said the club currently serves two purposes: to provide prospective pre-health students with resources for pursuing a career in the health industry; and to give pre-health students a better sense of community between themselves.
Matrone said the another aim of the club is to aid in the connection between upperclassmen and underclassmen.
“Our whole goal, and the founding basis of our club, is to create a community of students that are interested in the same things,” Matrone said.
Along with creating a community, Matrone said the club will also be bringing in representatives from a variety of health and pre-health backgrounds. There are no current membership fees for the organization, and any students with a curiosity for pre-health programs are welcome to attend, with the club open to all majors.
“Even if you don’t join, our talks, whether they are from existing faculty here or outside speakers, those will be open to everyone, so we would encourage anyone to go to those,” Gaudin said.
The Pre-Health Professionals Club’s next meeting will feature Kevin Haney, the dean of admissions at the OU College of Dentistry. Haney will be giving a talk at 7:00 p.m. March 11 in room 108 of Sarkey’s Science and Math Center. Haney will be talking about what he looks for in applicants for the school, as well as how students can prepare for the application process. Matrone said the organization is aiming to bring in speakers from a wide range of pre-health programs.
Leave a Reply