Some medical students only take one class in their field, they get involved to gain knowledge.
Many Ohio University students realize that their performance in classrooms alone might not get them a job.
Some studying in health-related fields have found that academic-based student organizations more strongly force classroom-learned theory to be applied to real-world uses.
There are four groups on campus in such fields, corresponding to their respective school programs: Pre-Dentistry Society, Pre-Pharmacy Club, Pre-Physical Therapy Club, and Pre-Veterinary Medicine Club.
All of the organizations bring in professionals from their corresponding fields in an attempt to give the members more information about the work force.
Ashley Meyer, President of the Pre-Physical Therapy Club, said she joined the club because she was set on her major and wanted to get involved with an organization that dealt with her line of future work.
“I knew what the profession was, but I didn’t know the steps of how to get there,” Meyer, a junior studying exercise physiology, said.
Meyer said she takes a lot of information provided in her major’s introductory course and incorporates that information into the club’s agenda, alongside guest speakers and other materials helpful to physical therapists.
“There may be things that aren’t said in the class that are said in the club,” Meyer said.
She said the group has about 40 members who actively participate in the organization, which was started in 2000.
While there was a Pre-Pharmacy Club in previous years, it did not command a strong presence on campus, and last year, there was not one altogether. That is, until halfway through spring semester.
“For pharmacy majors there is only one course offered for them, otherwise you are just a straight chemistry major,” Danielle Powall, president of the Pre-Pharmacy Club, said.
That one class is also only offered every other spring.
The teacher of that class is also the one who suggested to Powall that a pharmacy-specific club be once again organized.
“Our main purpose for the club is to be mainly a helping hand for pre-pharmacy students to educate them for on pharmacy and to also educate them more,” Powall, a junior studying pre-pharmacy chemistry, said.
Powall said some people can go through their entire undergraduate career and not fully grasp what they are studying because there is a lack of content-specific courses.
She said the organization has about 15 members.
Kelsey Von Lehmden, president of the Pre-Veterinary Medicine Club, said she started the organization to create a space where students studying the same major can come together and help each other.
She said the group has only had two meetings so far this year because it is hard to coordinate everyone’s schedules. The group currently has around 20 members.
While the university has had this group in prior academic years, this is the first recent year the organization has existed.
“I’m hoping it will better prepare everyone, not only with the applying process, but helping them decide if this is really what they want to go into,” said Von Lehmden, a senior studying pre-veterinary medicine.
She hopes by bringing the group together and informing those interested about the profession that students will be able to meet in one space and help each other in a variety of ways, one of them being applying to graduate school.
Joseph Fluegemann, President of the Pre-Dentistry Society said dental schools specifically look for candidates who have previous involvement in this organization.
“I think the organization helps the pre-dental students themselves get information,” Fluegemann, a junior studying pre-dentistry, said, adding that the organization provides its members with information on what dental school is like and how to apply.
Fluegemann researches different topics to discuss during the meeting and helps get guest speakers to come present at the meetings.
“It gives you information as well as shows commitment and interest in the field,” said Fluegemann. The group, formed about five years ago, has approximately 20 active members.
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