College of Medicine Freshmen Help Aspiring Physicians

By Jon Parham

 Freshman Class President Brandon Morshedi (left) discusses the MCAT with Kelli Jo Johnson of Pine Bluff and Devon O’Guinn, a UAMS graduate student from El Dorado.
Freshman Class President Brandon Morshedi
(left) discusses the MCAT with Kelli Jo
Johnson of Pine Bluff and Devon O’Guinn,
a UAMS graduate student from El Dorado.

COM student Hina Mehta (right) says she volunteered for the program because of the positive experience and results she achieved after taking an MCAT prep course taught by medical students.
COM student Hina Mehta (right) says she volunteered for the program because of the positive experience and results she achieved after taking an MCAT prep course taught by medical students.

Course participants praised COM student John Cheairs for his knowledge of physics and his ability to communicate complex information.
Course participants praised COM student John Cheairs for his knowledge of physics and his ability
to communicate complex information.

July 8, 2011 | A week at the beach might be a tempting option for many students who’ve just finished their grueling freshman year of medical school. But rather than relaxing after final exams this year, 16 UAMS College of Medicine freshmen coordinated and taught a two-week preparatory course for the tough Medical College Admission Test (MCAT).

As freshman class president, Brandon Morshedi met many classmates who had struggled with the MCAT when applying to medical school. In fact, the test had been the most difficult part of the admissions process for him as well.

“I knew there were a lot of other people in the same boat and the MCAT was the only thing preventing some of them from having a chance to realize their dream,” said Morshedi, who led the student volunteer effort.

UAMS has offered an MCAT prep course since 1995 through the Center for Diversity Affairs, which strives to increase the numbers of underrepresented minorities in medicine through a wide range of programs. For many years, the UAMS College of Medicine partnered with the center on the MCAT prep course under the leadership of James Pasley, Ph.D., a professor of physiology and biophysics and assistant dean for educational advancement. The longtime, revered educator retired last winter, leaving the highly successful MCAT program without a hands-on academic coordinator.

“We were in the process of determining what to do when the students came to us and said they’d like to volunteer their services,” said Billy Thomas, M.D., M.P.H., a professor of pediatrics and UAMS assistant vice chancellor for diversity. “We look for altruism and leadership qualities in applicants to medical school, and their willingness to take this on really shows the caliber and commitment of our students.”

While the program has benefited from medical student volunteers in the past, their level of involvement is much greater this year, said Bill Bauknight, director of student affairs in the Center for Diversity Affairs.

“Sixteen students put their heads together and decided they wanted to make a contribution to the students coming behind them,” said Bauknight. “They’ve done a great job planning this and coordinating the presentation of content for the undergraduate students and others taking this course.”

The center sponsors the MCAT course, with Outreach Programs Director Patricia Edgerson, M.P.H., overseeing marketing, registration and other administrative aspects.

Open to anyone planning to take the MCAT, the program focuses on test-taking skills and critical thinking as well as mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology. This year, more than 50 participants took the intensive, two-week course, including college juniors and seniors and graduate students from throughout Arkansas and several other states.

The program uses a highly regarded, commercially published study guide. Morshedi and fellow organizers arranged for medical students who have done particularly well in various subjects to teach specific content. Morshedi said he also drew from Pasley’s resources and course materials when planning the two-week schedule.

“A lot of our student volunteers had taken MCAT prep courses, and some of them told me they wouldn’t be here in medical school if it weren’t for Dr. Pasley’s course,” said Morshedi. “They all wanted to help others get here too.”

Morshedi wants the student-led program to become an annual tradition and responsibility of subsequent freshmen class officers.

“The ideal teachers for this course are medical students,” Bauknight said. “Since they have just finished their freshman year, basic sciences material is fresh on their mind. It hasn’t been that long since they took the MCAT themselves, and they all did something that prepared them well for that exam. They’re energetic and on the same wavelength as the undergraduate students.”

“They’ve been in our shoes,” agreed Ross Gray, 25, a graduate student in biology at the University of Central Arkansas who took the UAMS course with the goal of improving his MCAT score over a previous attempt. “The students teaching this course know what it takes to achieve a good score on the MCAT.”

“I think this is the best advice and information I could possibly get in two weeks,” said Mariam Kaleem, a 21-year-old Ghana native who recently finished her junior year as a biology/pre-med major at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and will take the MCAT for the first time in August. “We’ve received so much information about how to prepare for the exam, and the medical students are very encouraging.”