 Media Credit: KRT Students enrolled in the pre-med program must be ready to devote entire afternoons to lab periods. [Click to enlarge]
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Careers in medicine have often been highly revered in society. Though there are many concentrations, medicine attracts a certain type of person. The driven, industrious student who strives for excellence on a daily basis in all realms of life is usually the one who defines a candidate for a medical career.
The pre-med program is one that, given its rigorous course load and demanding sequence of classes, attracts such people and often puts forth great results for its constituents.
"We have great students at BC and they have done very well at gaining seats in health profession grad schools," Dr. Robert Wolff, the director of the pre-medical program and a professor in the biology department. "Last year, 84 percent of our BC undergraduate applicants were accepted at MD programs. In contrast, 49 percent of students were accepted nationally."
Given this reputation, one would expect a massive amount of interest within the freshman class in pursuing a medical career.
"In terms of incoming freshmen, as of October 15, 404 members of the class of 2009 declared pre-med, pre-dent [pre-dental], or pre-vet [pre-veterinarian]," said Wolff. "The entering A&S class size is 1,593. Therefore, pre-meds, -dents, and -vets make up approximately 25 percent of the incoming A&S class. Last fall, pre-meds, -dents, and -vets constituted 22 percent of the incoming class of 2008."
The numbers speak for themselves; the program has attracted students.
"I did [medical] internships that piqued my interests, so I decided to pursue medicine," said Frank Nasso, A&S '09, upon being asked why he chose medicine in the first place.
The pre-med student must be dedicated to his or her work, as many students find their days consumed with chemistry and lab write-ups.
"It's difficult," said Nasso. "I find myself doing so much work for the program. I'm pretty sure I'll stick with it so long as I have some guidance."
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