Young women interested in a future career in medicine gathered at Opstad auditorium to hear a detailed presentation by five first-year medical students at the University of Iowa.  

The five women shared advice on how to get involved in medical careers even though students are still in high school. “Emma Goldman or Planned Parenthood is always taking volunteers and is a great way to get involved,” Hannah mentioned. Not only that but they also shed some light on a new trend facing medical students. “A lot of medical schools are looking for people with experience. It’s starting to become a trend where people no longer have to go straight through. They are taking a break to destress or get more experience through jobs.” Said Emily. The women are apart of American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA)  and they want to try and reach out to other schools to inform girls who might be confused about how to apply to medical school and what to major in before making a big decision. “At the end of the day there’s no bad medical school to get into because as long as you get through the program, you’ll all be doctors,” Morgan said.

This was also a great way for medical field inspirees to get an inside look into the MCAT. Which is a medical college admissions test designed to assess problem solving and critical thinking for medical students. They spend years preparing for this standardized test. “It’s [MCAT] a lot of material and you’re tested for up to seven hours. So you might not want to take it twice and it’s a few hundred dollars.” Leah reveals. The AMWA is looking to reach out as far as they can to help women who are interested in the medical field and hear fair information on what it’s like to before you go to college and decide before you choose your medical school. “I hope that today they [students] heard from people who took multiple paths to get there, whether it was nursing, whether it was loving science, whether it was majoring in something else. And that’s the other thing, is that it’s okay to take your own paths to medical school. And you don’t have to decide right now that you want to go there and major in biology, you can really love, and are interested in, and find out if medicine is right for you.” They ask that any questions that people might have about medical school can be directed to find their emails in the guidance office.