Application Year Panel (Spring)
The Application Year Panel allows students to learn more about the application/glide year from a panel of their peers who are on the threshold of matriculation at medical schools. While all students are welcome, students preparing to submit applications to medical, dental, or veterinary school in the upcoming summer are especially encouraged to attend.
General Applicant Information Session (Fall)
The General Applicant Information Session is mandatory for students who are preparing to apply to medical, dental, or veterinary school with committee support upon completion of the orgo/bio year. This session will cover the internal application to the committee and the medical school application process and timeline.
Linkage Applicant Information Session (Spring)
The Linkage Applicant Information is mandatory for students interested in seeking nomination to apply to a linkage admission program at a medical or dental school. Topics to be addressed include the following:
- What is linkage?
- The pros and cons of linkage
- Choosing a linkage school
- The linkage application and nomination processes
Linkage Panel (Fall)
The Linkage Panel is an opportunity for current Postbac Premed students to learn from a panel of Postbac Premed alumni about their experiences as applicants to linkage admissions programs.
Medical School Interview Workshop (Fall and Spring)
The Medical School Interview Workshop provides orgo/bio year students with preparation for a successful medical school interview. Students will learn to define what they want to communicate to interviewers, and will learn how to highlight and connect their previous careers/experience and their interest in medicine. This workshop will lay the foundation for an interview complete with spontaneity, authenticity, confidence, and humor, with workshop participants practicing preparation and self-awareness.
MCAT Panel (Fall)
At the MCAT Panel, students will learn how their peers prepared for the MCAT exam and what the experience of taking it was like. All students are welcome, but those planning to take the MCAT in the current year are especially encouraged to attend.
Narrative Medicine Seminar (Spring)
The Narrative Medicine Seminar provides students with the opportunity to gain a more complete perspective on the illness experience. In this small-group, six-week, non-credit seminar in narrative medicine—an emerging interdisciplinary field that examines illness through stories of patients, doctors, and other medical professionals and caregivers—students will build their interpretive and communication skills through close reading and listening, discussion, and reflective writing. Students will study personal narratives, popular news, photographs, literature, and academic theory from a variety of authors and sources. The seminar is led by two Columbia University Master of Science in Narrative Medicine students.
Personal Statement Writing Workshop (Fall and Spring)
Led by the Postbac Premed Program's Writing Consultant, the Personal Statement Writing Workshop instructs students on the dos and don’ts of writing the personal statement, a critical part of the common applications for medical, dental, and veterinary medical school. The workshop will address techniques that students can use to distinguish themselves from their peers and identify statement topics to avoid. It will also help them begin to brainstorm about their own statements.
Postbac 101 (Fall and Spring)
Postbac 101 is a weekly workshop series exploring the best practices and common pitfalls of medical school applicants. Sessions are designed to help new Postbac students learn how to present themselves as the most competitive applicants possible. Join the premed advising team each week and get started planning your application today.
Application Launchpad (Fall-Spring)
The Application Launchpad series is intended for GS premeds who are planning to apply to medical, dental, or veterinary school as linkage candidates during the current academic year or next summer as general applicants. The series, which traverses the fall and spring semester, includes sessions devoted to: what to do during the application year; deciding where to apply; the parts of the formal application process; interviewing; and "Traffic Rules."
