11/5/09 GM minutes

MD / PhDMEDICAL SCHOLARS PROGRAM

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

COLLEGE OF MEDICINE AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN

The Medical Scholars Program (MSP) was founded in 1978. The program is an MD/PhD program

committed to preparing a diverse cadre of Physician-Scholars to be leaders in medicine and research.

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS:

◊One of the nation’s largest MD/PhD programs

◊Diverse offering of PhD fields including humanities, social

sciences, engineering, physical & biomedical sciences

◊All MD & PhD training done at a world class research

institution, with many PhD programs ranked top 10 in their

respective disciplines

◊Unique opportunities for interdisciplinary research

◊Frequent 1:1 interaction with practicing physicians during

clinical training

◊Flexible scheduling of sequencing of MD & PhD studies

◊Funding for all MD/PhD students including tuition & partial

fee waiver along with a stipend

FAST FACTS ABOUT ADMISSIONS:

◊December 31 deadline to submit MSP on-line application at

the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Urbana-

Champaign

◊February 1 deadline to return secondary (supplemental)

application to University of Illinois College of Medicine at

Chicago

◊Only US citizens and permanent residents are eligible for

admission

NIH FELLOWSHIP AWARDEES IN THE MSP:

◊11 NIH NRSA MD/PhD Fellowship current awardees

◊5 NIH Underrepresented Minority Fellowship current awardees

◊21 NIH NRSA MD/PhD Fellowship graduates

◊3 NIH Underrepresented Minority Fellowship graduates

SELECTED RESIDENCY MATCHES 2002-2009 (n=151):

◊Harvard University – 9

◊Johns Hopkins University – 7

◊Mayo Clinics, Rochester, Minnesota – 2

◊Northwestern University – 1

◊Oregon Health & Science University – 1

◊Stanford University – 6

◊University of California, Los Angeles – 3

◊University of California, San Diego – 4

◊University of California, San Francisco – 9

◊University of Chicago – 7

◊University of Michigan – 1

◊University of Pennsylvania – 8

◊University of Washington – 4

◊Washington University in St. Louis – 7

◊Yale University – 1

Fact sheet updated June 2009

PROFILE OF CURRENT STUDENTS:

◊154 students

◊44% female

◊24% married

◊6% with children

◊13% underrepresented minority

MCAT & GPA OF 09-10 INCOMING CLASS:

◊31 average MCAT

◊3.58 average GPA

CURRENT ENROLLMENT (n=154):

◊88 students (57%) enrolled in second degree disciplines

traditionally offered in MD/PhD programs

◊41 students (27%) enrolled in Biological or Physical

Science disciplines not traditionally offered in MD/PhD

programs

◊25 students (16%) enrolled in second degree disciplines

within the Humanities, the Social Sciences, or Law

THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-

CHAMPAIGN is a major public university that is ranked

among the best in the world. With over 40,000 students

from all over the world the campus offers a rich diverse cultural

experience. Urbana boasts Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize

winners and faculty whose research is among the most cited in

their fields. The University is a world leader in research,

teaching and public engagement and is distinguished by the

breadth and quality of its academic programs.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Office of Student Affairs and Medical Scholars Program

University of Illinois College of Medicine at

Urbana-Champaign

506 S. Mathews

Urbana, IL 61801

(217) 333-8146

Tony Jimenez, Coordinator for Student Affairs and Medical

Scholars Program

ojimenez@illinois.edu

Dr. James M. Slauch

MSP Director, Professor of Microbiology

slauch@illinois.edu

or VISIT OUR WEBSITE at www.med.illinois.edu/mdphd/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For general MD/PhD info, visit: http://www.aamc.org/members/great/resources/mdphdtrainingandcareers.pdf

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SUMMER MEDICAL AND DENTAL EDUCATION PROGRAM (SMDEP)

The Summer Medical and Dental Education Program (SMDEP) is a free
six week summer academic enrichment program for college freshman and
sophomore students who are interested in a career in medicine or
dentistry. The goal of the program is to prepare aspiring freshman and
sophomores to become competitive applicants to medical and dental
school.

Application opens: November 1, 2009

Application deadline: March 1, 2010

All applicants are strongly encouraged to apply early!

For additional information and to access the online application, visit:
http://www.smdep.org/

if you have questions, feel free to facebook or email our AMSA officer
Wenting Guo ( guowt1005@gmail.com). She participated SMDEP in Summer 2008
at UT Houston. Her SMDEP ambassador ID is Wenting Gu

10/30/09 GM minutes

1^st Speaker Rynne

• Acupuncture, Chiropracter’s office, home office
• Acupressure colleague: Susan
• Acupressure Institute nearby on Shattuck
• Institute has been around for 30 years, down on Shattuck and Cedar.
• Provides 3-hour classes for stress reduction, relieving back, shoulder, and neck pain

History of Acupressure

• Acupressure is over 5000 years old, oldest form of medicine we know based in Asian countries
• Acupuncture  stemmed from acupressure
• We help each other by touching, by herbs and plants that were local to our areas
• Fingers or whole hands, with various levels of pressure (gentle or firm, tapping, rubbing, squeezing)
• We call it now “massage” days gone by it was how we moved energy through the body
• What we do when we are constricted by stress is exist in discomfort and disquieting. It is manifested in pain and tension.
• Muscular tension, lack of oxygen, lack of circulation—STAGNATION

The river (flow of energy meridians) of energy that flows in your body

• If a river has a dam in it, it doesn’t flow and becomes putrid and stagnant.
• Acupressure is moving blockages and dams so the body can flow fluidly.
• Motto of acupressure: “Where there is no flow, there is pain. Where there is flow, there is no pain.”
• Acupuncture came along many years after acupressure. Application of needles into points.
• Breathing exercises, movement, points and applying pressure. These are things we can take with us when we’re stressed about school or family or friends. These are all ways of moving energy

Breathing Exercise

• Position body comfortably
• Close eyes and focus on your breath
• Feel your ribcage moving UP and OUT
• Lungs pressing inside ribcage lift ribcage and widen ribcage
• Bring attention down into belly, feel our belly button, enjoy the movement of your belly
• Take a full breath in and hold. Exhale everything completely and then relax.
• Notice that your spine gets longer, your shoulders depress
• When you’re ready, come back to the room, leaving the belly, leaving the chest, touching your shoulders.

Movement Exercise

• Helicopter/Windmill movement: both feet on the ground, twist back and forth, letting arms swing freely
• Wake up, re-energize body after sitting for a while
• Spine rub: rub your lower back up and down, side to side, in circles
• The Yolk: gently pound your shoulder (near neck) with the opposite fist
• Used fingers to tap along midline of back of your head
• Then brush along your forehead out
• Brush out along entire length of all the body’s meridians
• Allow your feet to be soft, feel the bottoms of your feet, let arms hang loosely, knees over ankles, hips over knees, shoulders over hips, and head over hips

Book in Chinese medicine: Between Heaven and Earth
Handouts available for 4 essential exercises to relieve tension
Use these handouts prior to going to bed so you’ll be able to sleep.
Chi-gung in Chinese Medicine—the art of using your body and tapping into your chi for healing arts.
Healing Arts:

• Promoting health
• Classes offered at the Acupressure institute on Shattuck
• Free ticket to attend a class if you have time—more information later.

Handout:

• 8 Essential Movements and exercises
• With partner
• Very gently rub your hands together.
• Point 1: Put your hands on top of the shoulder, come out to the edge, and come right behind right where the shoulder bone attaches to the shoulder girdle.
• Rub and then let fingers rest at this point
• Point 2: Bring fingers into toward the scapula’s top angle, put your finger  there and rub.
• Allow hands to rest lightly on shoulders with your fingers still in the spot.
• Point number 3: Right where neck and shoulder meets, come out a fingertip or two. With a very light touch, rub. Relieve the tension there.
• Allow fingers to rest there.
• Point 4: Right below skull, halfway down, put fingers there. Put your other hand on the person’s forehead.
• Point 5: Move up to the base of the occipital (base of skull) poking very gently under the base of the skull, on the underside o the bone.
• Put your hand on top of their head and other hand on their forehead.
• Point 6: Place hand below the clavicle and rest

10/22/09 GM minutes

 AMSA Fall 2009-Week 9 General Meeting Minutes (10/22/2009) 

Announcements:

--House of Curry Fundraising on Wednesday, October 28^th, from 1-10pm. AMSA Board Members will be having their social starting around 7pm around this event. So we can have a TeleBears advising night. If you go to this, you will get membership points as well. You must have a flier to participate (or we’ll give one to you if you come to advising night). 10% of the proceeds goes to AMSA.

--“I Bleed Red Blue & Gold Button for $1. Time and event when this will be sold will be given to you in our weekly email.

--AMSA needs more volunteers for Blood Drive on Nov 10^th. Contact Andrew Mains at andrewmains12@berkeley.edu if interested.

--Suitcase Clinic, a De-Cal class aimed to help homeless population in their need for healthcare, more info in the Sunday Newsletter.

Speakers:

• Susan Martinez, Volunteer Coordinator for CHORI, go to CHORI website http://www.childrenshospitaloakland.org/join/join_volunteer.asp. Focus is on patient care and family interaction. Art of patient necessary. It is pediatric centered but the skill can be applied to all medical fields’ aspects of patient interaction.

Location: corner of MLK Jr. Way and 52^nd Street in Oakland

Requirement: one 2-4 hrs shift per week, totaling to 100 hrs of service/yr.

Application is available online and must be mailed to CHORI.

Must go through the TB and immunization clearances

Must go through background check via application

Attend 2-hour orientation session and a one-to-one 30-min interview for scheduling

Some departments: Art While You Wait, Children’s Surgery Center, Emergency Department, Urgent Care, Day Hospital, etc.

Visit the website to get more details and read the FAQ as that is from where these infos are.

• Jack Tian, Lead Volunteer of Highland Hospital

Request a Volunteer Application from hghedleadvol@gmail.com

Various programs in sister hospitals as well, such as in Fairmont, hospice service primarily run by nurses. A lot of patient interaction then because long-term care. Inquire in email regarding various programs that are tailored to specific fields. If there is down-time during the duty, can shadow doctors or follow clinical rotations since Highland is a teaching hospital.

http://community.hghed.com/?page=Volunteering

Same basic requirements as CHORI, except 4 hrs shift per week and 3-hr orientation.

• Helping non-clinical, non-profit. Bay Area Health Professions Coalition or CCMP. Purpose is to get healthcare for everyone. Most recent mission is to oppose healthcare rationing in the Bay Area. No time commitment. In need of volunteers. No contact info provided because of sign-up sheet. Contact AMSA if interested and we’ll connect you.

• Volunteers for Medical Outreach program over the summer in Vietnam and Cambodia. One of the major events is the sponsoring of numerous corrective surgeries for children. The organization’s GM is on Tuesday, Oct 27^th, 7 pm 2312 Tolman. All with medical interest is welcome.

10/15/09 GM minutes

 AMSA Fall 2009-Week 8 General Meeting Minutes (10/15/2009) 

Announcements 

• CAHPSA 2nd Annual Northern California Health Care Conference

(co-sponsored by AMSA)

Date: Sat, Oct 17

Time: 9:30 am - 4 pm

Location: 159 Mulford

Register at:

http://cahpsanorcalhealthcareconference09.eventbrite.com/

• UCB AMSA Vice President of Membership Internship

To apply for the internship, you must have at least 8 membership standing points and please be sure that you will be able to fulfill the requirements as they are listed on the application before submitting it

The application for this position will be available at amsa.berkeley.edu by

early this week. Please complete and return the application to me (Tiffany

Gee: tiffanygee11@gmail.com) by Friday, October 23 at 11:59 pm. Interviews will then be offered for one or two positions

• A potential biochemistry-oriented lab position/shadowing is available via UCSF. Please contact Yusef Karaouni at ymkaraouni@berkeley.edu for more information

• October Kaplan MCAT Test Prep Auction. For all the details, please go to this website, a Google form:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dDNWdnlENmY4bHRDbWdNRFhNRzZhRlE6MA

The auction starts THIS MONDAY October 19, 12:00 am and lasts until

FRIDAY October 23, 11:59pm

Speaker: Ross University - Associate Director of Admission Tom Hueller 

• Background: M.A. in Medical/Psychiatric Social Work and has taken an occupation in the field before joining the admission board of Ross University

• San Francisco-based, one of the interviewers for applicants from the Bay Area

• Ross University is an international medical school that is a good alternative to US and Canadian medical schools. It was established in the Dominican Republic in 1978

• The curriculum mirrors that of US medical schools

• Licensed medical degree to practice medicine in all fifty US states, Dominica, and the Caribbean. Most of the graduates are interested in international medicine

• Performance in terms of Med school GPA and USMLE test is on the same par as US medical schools

• Placement in residency has a very diverse appointments in the US

• Housing areas are conveniently located near campus and near the beach!

• Faculty to student ratio is 1:15. Lecture sessions in the morning can be in a class size of 400. However, the afternoon sessions are problem-based learning through working in groups of 10-15 students

• Facilities are state-of-the-art; Gross’s anatomy labs are advanced with video dissection. Classroom lectures are augmented with plasma screens. Lectures are recorded so that students can revisit each lecture at their own time and convenience

• First two years of the program takes place in Dominican Republic. Then the fifth semester takes place in Miami, FL or Saginaw, MI. Then sixth-tenth semester is the start of clinical rotations and USMLE test. This would take place in appointments to teaching hospitals in the US. The appointments to clinical rotations with Ross are guaranteed (something to look out in other medical schools too). There are approximately 70 schools affiliated with Ross for this, mostly in the East Coast

• Admissions: typical premed classes (1 yr Bio+labs; G-chem and O-chem+their labs; 1 yr of Physics; 1 semester of Calculus/Statistics; 1 yr of English/Humanities with rigorous reading load)

• Average GPA of matriculants is 3.4 and average MCAT is 26. Average age is 26 years old. Student body make-up based on ethnicity is relatively equally distributed with no majority ethnicity. Gender make-up is approximately 50-50

• Requires two letters of recommendation: one faculty in sciences and one professional letter

• Application is separate: NOT through AMCAS

• Ross is considered by the US Department of Education as having the same standing as US institution in terms of financial aid as well. So subsidized, government loan is a possible part of the financial aid package

• For deferred students who are considered to have not shown the full academic potential, there is the Medical Education Review Program, guiding these students for 3.5 months to show this potential and get guaranteed admission to Ross upon completion with an adequate level of accomplishment. This is somewhat like a post-baccalaureate program except successful completion guarantees admission to Ross

• For more information, please contact Tom Hueller at thueller@rossu.edu

10/8/09 GM Minutes

 AMSA Fall 2009-Week 7 General Meeting Minutes (10/08/2009) 

Kaplan’s Cracking (Tackling, Befriending, etc.) the MCAT 

What IS the MCAT? 

• It tests not the science content but the critical thinking and ability to apply these contents to solve problems that are described during the test. Knowledge on content throughout the spectra of life sciences (general biology, organic chemistry) and physical sciences (general chemistry, and physics) is assumed

• The Verbal section assumes no prior knowledge. All the information needed to analyze the problems is given in the passage. The test-taker must be able to breakdown the argument in the passage. The three main topics for VR passages are natural science (excluding those in the other two multiple choice section), social science, and humanities

• The writing sample tests the ability to see a problem then apply/posit solutions to it.

• The multiple choice section is relevant in gauging the prospective student’s ability to perform in the first two years of medical school classes. The writing sample is more of a measurement for the last two years.

• MCAT is needed in order to standardize the quality of students from various educational institutions. It is an attempt to eliminate variables such as the “easier classes” or “better schools” ones.

The numbers 

• There are three multiple choice sections: life science (52 questions, 70 minutes), physical science (52 questions, 70 minutes), and verbal reasoning (40 questions, 60 minutes). Each has a score range of 1-15

• There are two essays and both scores are combined formulaically, yielding a letter score with a range of J-T. Writing each essay is given a 30-minute time slot.

• Average matriculate scores:

o Physical Science: 10.3

o Life Science: 10.6

o Verbal Reasoning: 9.9

o Writing Sample: P

Outline of Kaplan Course 

• Technique: Stop (do not read the answer choices for content but glance at it to know the type of question i.e. calculation vs. conceptual), Think (know the actual question i.e. what is left vs. what is used up; relevant information needed), Predict (actual work to get answer), Match (find the answer choice matching prediction).

• The outline of the syllabus: test-taking strategies every other four class, content (the bulk of the course), and endurance (towards the last 1/3 of the course, applying both strategy and content to take practice tests though practice tests are taken throughout the course).

• Smart Report: Kaplan has a pool of ~11,000 questions. Taking all of them would be very time consuming and futile. “Smart Report” portrays the strengths and weaknesses by categories of specific topics, question level, question type, etc. so students can be selective in taking practice questions.

Upcoming Events 

• Free Practice MCAT Test on Saturday, October 10, 2009. Location is 160 Dwinelle. MCAT test takes about 260 minutes and the answers will be discussed afterwards. This will be a paper test but MCAT is a non-adaptive, computer-based test. This event is open to the public so bring your friends with you!

• Kaplan’s Interview Skills workshop on October 12, 2009 in 170 Barrows from 6-7pm.

For more information, contact one of the AMSA board members. For specifically Kaplan questions, contact Petros Minasi at Petros.Minasi@kaplan.com. Remember our National AMSA stackable discount of $200. Also, signing-up around Thanksgiving and Winter Holiday could come with an additional $200. AMSA will email you regarding these specials.

9/24/09 4th GM Minutes

AMSA Fall 2009-Week 4 General Meeting Minutes (09/24/2009) 

Highlights of the Meeting:

• AMSA-ARC: Passenger assignments and a brief announcement on other transportation/housing logistics. Contact Tiff Gee for more info on this or not

• Healthcare and homelessness presentation by Shrina:

Some pertinent facts and figures:

Children make up most of the population; tends to carry over to life and to subsequent family

Most common causes: unaffordable housing and very low wage

1/5 of homeless are undernourished and 44% of them do work

Poor mental/physical health and homelessness are correlated with one another in a “two-way street” manner

• Diseases common among homelessness:

TB (very rapid mutation of the strains) 􀃆 reduce new incidence by UV light setting in homeless shelter to prevent spreading

Hypertension and diabetes􀃆 because no regular access to insulin, fridge, and needles. Often reuse needles leading to infection

••• of the population has mental-related problems 􀃆most common are schizophrenia and depression

Substance and alcohol abuse 􀃆 not clear what the relationship is (whether the cause of homelessness is the abuse or it is a coping mechanism for falling into homelessness)

• Skit presented to illustrate the standard response to homeless patient in hospitals and free clinics with AMSA members volunteering to act out the skit

• Many are in denial i.e. endless efforts in bottle gathering for CRV refund not only for the money but to feel like there is a sense of accomplishment or preferring to get discarded food from trash instead of receiving charity directly

• Personal stories and discussions on interacting with homeless people

• Possible collaboration to work with the homeless thru Suitcase Clinic, If the plan goes through, members will be further informed

• Feedback for Sexuality and Homelessness presentations and activities for Shrina. Every GM will have this so members have more say!

• No committee for Environmental/Global/Community Health. If interested in De-Cal related to this topic, which is led by our own Environmental/Global/Community Health Chair, contact her at guo_wenting@berkeley.edu

• Upperclassmen-underclassmen mentorship 􀃆 high interest among members. Tiff Gee will arrange the details and application. If all goes well, it will be announced

9/17/09 3rd GM minutes

 AMSA Fall 2009-Week 3 General Meeting Minutes (09/17/2009) 

Highlights of the Meeting:

• The new Community & Environmental Health/Global Health Action Committee Chair, Wenting Guo, was introduced to the member.

• Reminder on the AMSA-ARC conference. Last early bird registration is September 18^th ($20 ticket). Afterwards, $25 until September 25^th. Then it is $40. The event is for two days and attended by various deans of admissions of medical schools. The fee includes entrance fee, lunch for both days, and a t-shirt. Event on October 3^rd-4^th. Transportation will be arranged by the board and perhaps housing as well. For more info, please contact Stephanie Stramotas (sstramotas@gmail.com).

• Sign-up for hospitality event of the Graduate Student Fair on October 7^th-8^th. Event is co-sponsored by AMSA. Contact Tiff Gee for more info (tiffanygee11@gmail.com).

• Activity: Anonymous Human Sexuality Questionnaire activity and discussion. For more information and the recap of the event, contact Shrina Shah, the Race, Ethnicity & Culture in Health/Gender & Sexuality Chair (shrina89@gmail.com). The exercise’s purpose is to dispel any assumptions on a person’s sexuality through the result of a specific population (i.e. members who were in attendance). Physicians rarely talk about this aspect of human health. However, it does not mean that it is not important.

• Membership applications were accepted. Next general meeting is the final time they will be accepted. The room will be Tan Oak on the 4^th floor of the MLK Student Union building from 7-8:30 pm and the topic is Immigrant Health and Health Disparities.