Bryn Mawr's Postbaccalaureate Premedical Program recently welcomed its Class of 2019-20 to campus with a two-day orientation.
Established in 1972, the program offers highly motivated career changers who never took premedical courses the chance to complete an intensive, full-time preparation for medical or dental school in one year. Bryn Mawr's program is one of the nation's oldest, strongest, and most respected programs of its kind. Over the 12-month period of intensive, full-time study in the classroom, along with regular volunteering in area clinics, hospitals, and community-based health organizations, students are thoroughly prepared for the challenges of medical school. After completing the program, virtually all students who apply—greater than 98 percent—are accepted to medical school.
Each year students from an array of backgrounds come together in the program and this year is no different. Members of this year's class include former teachers, musicians, and lawyers, and students who have majored in everything from philosophy to computer science. Students hail from the East Coast, West Coast, and many points in between across the U.S. International students have traveled from Haiti, Singapore, the U.K., Spain, and East Timor.
“This year’s class came together for two fun and informative days of orientation, everything from tours of the newly renovated Park Science Building to sessions on volunteering and how to succeed in the premedical sciences, to pickup basketball and yoga at the gym," says Program Director Glenn Cummings. “We try to introduce them to both the academic and non-academic parts of the year that’s coming, suggesting ways to manage their demanding schedules while reserving time to get involved in the Bryn Mawr community and be mindful of their own well-being."
For most students, the Postbac Program begins with a two-semester general chemistry laboratory course during the summer session. Over the next 12 months students in the program will take courses in biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, and physics, fulfilling all the premedical requirements needed to apply to medical school.