Andrew Farnsworth from Alliance Credit Union Discusses Credit Health for Pre-Health Titans

Pre-Health Director Carmen Gamlin sat down with Andrew Farnsworth from Alliance Credit Union to discuss benefits of joining a credit union and importance of credit health. Here are some key takeaways from their 3 Question Interview.

What I love about the model is that it allows credit unions to support organizations that are important to the members, such as the University of Detroit Mercy.

1. What is the difference between a Bank and a Credit Union?

Banks and credit unions usually offers some of the same services such as checking and savings accounts, loans, mortgages, etc. A key difference between the two institutions are their structure. In addition, credit unions have a ton of benefits for it’s members.

Credit unions are basically non profit banks…instead of shareholders that own them every individual with a $5 deposit is considered a member owner.

If you have that deposit with this model, the credit union generally has lower interest rates on loans. higher interest rates on deposits, and there’s lots of other benefits including insurance discounts, legal services, credit monitoring and even discounts for dining and shopping.

2. Why Does Financial Health matter if I am going to graduate school?

Financial health is really essential. Getting an advanced degree gives you the opportunity to have a higher earning potential, but you also have the risk of going into really massive debt.

You really need a plan to achieve your financial goals. Without a plan, with having debt and lack of discipline, it can become a real distraction and a burden. That is true for everyone and it doesn’t matter what level of education that you have…It’s really important that you take care of your financial health because it can affect you.

The good news is that someone with an advanced degree and possibly a higher earning potential who does have a plan, who creates a budget and sticks to it is likely to come through that with the tools needed to really thrive, to really provide a positive impact in their own wellness and family life and then be a leader in the community.

3. What are benefits of joining Alliance Catholic Credit Union as a University of Detroit Mercy Titan?

Alliance Catholic Credit Union really want to help students build their credit to gain those financial skills to just have a good foundation and be building that in college. So what we’ve created is the Titan checking account. It’s a special account designed to help students learn skills and create habits to master personal finance.

So first, you get $20 when you join. That’s just one of our promotions that we run and then we offer Financial Wellness Rewards. So if you log in and do our classes at the Alliance Catholic Credit Union University Track online-which are really fun and easy to do, you will get $80 in Visa gift cards for completing that.

Then you are automatically entered to win scholarships for having this account. Also, there’s up to $50 in report card rewards. If you have a GPA above 3.0, you can receive up to $50 per year for that. Additionally, the account is compatible with mobile wallet, the mobile app, online banking and all those other benefits associated with credit union membership.

Alliance Catholic Credit Union has a branch located at the McNichols Campus of University of Detroit Mercy. Titans are encouraged to visit and talk with the staff there for questions or to open an account. Accounts can also be open online at the website which is www.AllianceCatholic.com

 

Posted in #jesuit, Financial, Mercy | Tagged | Comments Off on Andrew Farnsworth from Alliance Credit Union Discusses Credit Health for Pre-Health Titans

Pre-Health Advising July &‌ August Hours

Pre-Health Titans who are prospective Freshmen through Alumni have access to pre-health advising services. Pre-health students will pursue graduate school programs in the health professions or post-bachelor study/activities to apply to the following:

  • Allied Health: Anesthesiologist Assistant, Prosthetist, Orthotist, etc.
  • Chiropractic Medicine
  • Dentistry
  • Genetic Counseling
  • Medicine – Allopathic ( MD) or Osteopathic (DO)
  • Naturopathic Medicine ND
  • Nursing Programs (post Bachelor) – 2nd Degree Nursing or MEAGN
  • Occupational Therapy
  • Optometry
  • Pharmacy
  • Physical Therapy
  • Physician Assistant
  • Podiatry
  • Veterinary Medicine

In addition to your academic preparation you will need an individualized pre-health plan to engage in activities to have a complete let alone competitive application to professional schools. There are lots of areas to consider.

  • Clinical Experience
  • Community Service
  • Shadowing
  • Leadership / Employment
  • Research
  • Application Timeline
  • Evidence of Growth – Stepping out of your comfort zone.
  • Eligibility / Strategy for Early Acceptance programs
  • Jesuit Preference, Mercy Preference in graduate school selection
  • Military Medicine and Scholarships
  • Professional networking for First Generation and under-represented students
  • Test Preparation Plan for MCAT / DAT/ OAT/ GRE/ PCAT / PA-CAT etc.
  • Interview preparation and Situational Judgement Tests: CASPer, AAMC PREview, KIRA etc.

  1. Individual Appointments: 
  2. Drop-In Pre-Health Advising 
  3. Interview Prep Workshops in TEAMS

As a Titan, you can receive services asynchronously in TEAMS by just asking questions or submitting your essay, resume, cover letter or questions. I am a career counselor who can help you decide about your plan on a career in healthcare. Let’s chat soon. 

Carmen Gamlin,  MA LPC  (She/Her/Hers)Director & Advisor for Pre-Health ProgramsCollege of Engineering & Science, E125
4001 West McNichols Road
Detroit, Michigan 48221-3038 (313) 993-1956
Schedule an advising session: calendly.com/prehealthadvisor
NAAHP / CAAHP / MiAHP
Posted in #pre-health, #pre-pharmacy, 3 + 4 Program, 3 +3 PharmD, Allopathic Medicine MD, Athletic Training, Audiology, Biochemistry, BioMed Masters or PhD programs, Biomedical Sciences, Clinical Experience for Pre-Health Students, Community Service, DAT, Early Acceptance / Admission/ Assurance, Early Admission Program, Gap Year, Genetic Counseling, MCAT, MD/PhD or DO/PhD, Mercy, Nursing, Osteopathic Medicine, Post Bach, Pre-Clinical Lab Science, Pre-Dent, Pre-Health Advising, Pre-Med, Pre-Occupational Therapy, Pre-Optometry, Pre-PA, Pre-Pharm, Pre-Physical Therapy, Pre-Podiatry, Pre-Vet, Public health, Research for Pre-Health Students, Titan Alumni, undergraduate research | Comments Off on Pre-Health Advising July &‌ August Hours

Ahmed Al-Hilali, Detroit Mercy Alum’s Transition to American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine

Ahmed Al-Hilali, alum of Detroit Mercy completed his credits to graduate December 2021. Less than a month later, he was enrolled in Medical School! Pre-Health Advisor Carmen Gamlin sat down with the Detroit Mercy Alum for a three question interview. What Ahmed Al-Hilali provided was nuggets of wisdom for those who have reached a roadblock in their journey to medical school.

Prior to enrolling into medical school, Ahmed had completed over 1000 hours working as an EMT. That time equipped him with clinical and motor skills that he noticed his peers did not have coming into medical school. In addition, that time gave him the confidence he needed to advocate for himself in his journey to become a physician.

  1. First, you’re an alum of University of Detroit Mercy, tell me what you been doing since you graduated?

During his time of applying to medical school, Ahmed heard a lot of no’s; 30 to be exact. He noticed early on that he would have to take a different route to get to medical school. Knowing that he wanted to become a Doctor since the early age of 8, Ahmed decided to brainstorm ways in which he could make that goal a reality. He came across the American University of the Caribbean.

So, I was getting all the “no’s” and then I remember popping on Instagram one day and seeing my friend Fawad posted up on a beach and I remember he was in medical school but he was some place shiny. So I just started pulling up his page and I found out he was in Sint Maarten – so I reached out.

2. Tell me about your peers and what it is like to study at American University of Caribbean. 

Ahmed tells Carmen that American University of Caribbean is not too different from Detroit Mercy. He states that the it is a little bit smaller and as far as his peers they are after the same goal as he is; to become a physician.

It’s actually not too far off from Detroit Mercy. It’s actually a little bit smaller than Detroit Mercy…Here were strictly medicine. We have 3 semesters a year. January to April, May to end of August, then September to end of December and you just start at anytime.

You have these kids from all around the world, all corners of the globe really who end their masters programs or graduated and because of their own circumstances, similar to mine, they did not want to do another masters program or they did not want to wait another cycle. They knew this is what they want to do and more importantly, they knew they could do it. They decided, “you know what, I’m going to take a chance on myself”.

We do have alumni we can reach out to and more than willing to help because they knew what it was like to get there in the first place. So they know that the path that they blazed is also a path they have to keep nurturing by reaching back and helping students and that’s what makes AUC like really cool.

3. You mentioned being a EMT, maybe you can share how that has helped you thus far. 

Being an EMT was an incredible experience because now it doesn’t go away. I’m trained to just respond to an emergency situation and its just ingrained in me….Being an EMT was nice and it gave me the confidence to clinically evaluate somebody.

Being an EMT allowed me to speak up during times when I feel like my voice was mute…now I’m not uncomfortable raising my hand to be like hey professor, go back two slides I don’t get that. Even though you feel like you’re going to look stupid, it doesn’t matter. It’s your money, it’s your livelihood, it’s your career, it’s your medical knowledge. You’re building it!

For Titans and Prospective Titans who would like to connect with Ahmed Al-Hilali, he can be reached via Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/ahmed-al-hilali-1093798b.

Watch the complete interview below!

Posted in Allopathic Medicine MD, MCAT, Pre-Med, Titan Alumni | Comments Off on Ahmed Al-Hilali, Detroit Mercy Alum’s Transition to American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine

Clinical Shadowing Opportunities for Pre-Health Students with Atlantis

Detroit Mercy’s Director & Advisor of Pre-Health Programs, Carmen Gamlin spoke with Atlantis Representative Lindsay Kline about an opportunity for Pre-Health Students to engage in Physician shadowing in European Countries. Lindsay spoke about Atlantis and exactly how their program works.

The goal is that not only are you earning those very valuable shadowing hours but you’re also getting the opportunity to really observe healthcare in a different cultural context; different geopolitical context and getting to really amplify your understanding of global healthcare

  1. What is Atlantis and who is it for?

So Atlantis is an organization that essentially provides clinical shadowing opportunities for pre health and pre-med students who want to pursue opportunities abroad.

Ideally, pre-health students will participate in this opportunity during a summer or winter break. What Atlantis does is it connects students with physicians in cities across Europe. Students are partnered with a doctor and will complete a minimum of 20 hours of week of clinical shadowing and observation only. In addition, students are able to rotate their shadowing in different specialties.

So maybe on the first day you’re in orthopedics and the second day you’re in ER and the third day you’re observing surgery.

This opportunity really is for anybody who wants to pursue any sort of career in the field of healthcare.

2.  Around here, Doctors in Hospitals have an entourage around them with Medical Students, scribes and PA as they make rounds. Why do these doctors have time for our students from the US to shadow them?

Atlantis representative provides insight on teaching hospitals in Europe and how it benefits the physicians as well as the students.

We do partner with teaching hospitals… they are very interested and motivated by the teaching and learning that takes place at hospitals.

We really have a wonderful partnership with these hospitals and in the past we have actually awarded grant funding to amplify the teaching and learning that’s happening at these hospitals as a part of this reciprocal partnership….there is an incentive for these doctors to really pay attention to the students that are participating in Atlantis programs and to treat them like one of their own students or residents.

The other thing that I think is just important to know is the way in which we structure programs is that for each program and each doctor, each doctor is only responsible for two students. So again, it’s one doctor to two students ratio.

3. What other activities can Atlantis pre-health participants do while they are on location?

As part of Atlantis programs all of our groups, in addition to shadowing will participate in a minimum of 1 excursion a week. So those excursions, depending on the location, could be visits to cultural sites, museums, cooking classes, international equivalent to national parks.

So there’s so many different wonderful opportunities that we arrange for you to engage with the community and the culture.

We do arrange group meals, three group meals a week where you and your Atlantis staff sometimes the doctors and residents will join…we’ll have the opportunity to dine at a traditional restaurant, try local cuisine and step outside your comfort zone a little bit to engage with again the culture as well as the food.

Additional things to know about Atlantis:

Posted in #pre-health, Pre-Med, Summer programs for Pre-Health Titans | Comments Off on Clinical Shadowing Opportunities for Pre-Health Students with Atlantis

St. George’s University School of Medicine Recruits Detroit Mercy Titans on May 19 and June 2

SGU Is The Largest Provider Of Physicians Into First-Year US Residencies For The Last 8 Years!!

St George’s University School of Medicine is located on the beautiful island of Grenada, in the West Indies for years one and two of medical school, the didactic curriculum. years three and four are throughout the United States for the clinical rotations in hospitals like Ascension St. John Hospital in Detroit.

For the School of Medicine, St Georges offers four pathways: 4-year MD Pathway, 5-year, 6-year and 7-year. St Georges has had over 22,000 graduates and still remains the largest provider for Physicians into first-year US residencies!

Here is a link to the SGU overview video: https://youtu.be/oiiIToWuq0k.

Joshua Theil, Admissions Counselor for St. Georges University School of Medicine is hosting online Office Hours for Detroit Mercy Titans on two dates! May 19, 2022 and June 2, 2022 both dates between 2:00 pm and 4:30 Est. 

JOSH THEIL, M.Ed.Associate Director, Admissionsc/o University Support ServicesPhone: +1 (631) 665-8500 ext. 1597Mobile: +1 (616) 345-9170 (Call/Text)Email: jtheil@sgu.eduSGU Facebook SGU Instagram

Schedule an appointment – https://calendly.com/sgujt

To learn more about St. Georges University School of Medicine and its programs, engage with Joshua Thiel, Admissions Counselor during his office hours specifically for Pre-Health Titans.

 

May 19, 2022

Topic: St. Georges University Office Hours with Joshua Theil, Admissions Counselor
Time: May 19, 2022 02:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://udmercy-edu.zoom.us/j/92084819220

Meeting ID: 920 8481 9220
One tap mobile
+13017158592,,92084819220# US (Washington DC)
+13126266799,,92084819220# US (Chicago)

Dial by your location
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 929 436 2866 US (New York)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
Meeting ID: 920 8481 9220
Find your local number: https://udmercy-edu.zoom.us/u/acYvAL4L9J

June 2, 2022

Topic: St. Georges University Office Hours with Joshua Theil, Admissions Counselor
Time: Jun 2, 2022 02:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://udmercy-edu.zoom.us/j/92352415236

Meeting ID: 923 5241 5236
One tap mobile
+13017158592,,92352415236# US (Washington DC)
+13126266799,,92352415236# US (Chicago)

Dial by your location
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 929 436 2866 US (New York)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
Meeting ID: 923 5241 5236
Find your local number: https://udmercy-edu.zoom.us/u/aduI0oIgqp

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on St. George’s University School of Medicine Recruits Detroit Mercy Titans on May 19 and June 2

May 2022 Pre-Health Advising Newsletter

The Pre-Health Department at Detroit Mercy invites you to view the Pre-Health Advisor Newsletter for May 2022 which is packed with resources tailored for our Pre-Health students who will apply to and enter the Health Professions. It is broken down by profession so students can simply go to their profession of choice in the newsletter to find updates on application cycles, virtual fairs, career opportunities and more! Stay informed Titans and Prospective Titans! Visit the newsletter today!

May 10, 2022

    1. Pre-Health Advising: Drop-in Pre-Health Advising Tuesdays and Fridays all day, New Office location, scheduling
      2. This eNewsletter is different than the resources in the digital drive, Detroit Mercy Pre-Health Students and Alumni
      3. Application Support – Personal Statements, Letters, timeline,
      4. Your Grad School Entrance Exams: Fee Assistance, Testing Accommodations for DAT, GRE, MCAT, OAT, PA-CAT, PCAT
      5. How will you prove to programs that you are ethical? CASPer, AAMC-Preview, KIRA, Interviews
      6. What Pre-health Freshmen and Sophomores should do now before applying years later
      7. Early Assurance? Early Decision? Early Acceptance?
      8. Jobs: Research Assistant Position, CareerMD
      9. Current Clinical, Shadowing, Research and Community Service opportunities: Focus Volunteermatch.org
      10. Summer Programs & Gap Year Opportunities: Research and Clinical Opportunities, Mercy volunteer corps has professional placements.
      11. Committee Letter Corner
      12. Dental: 2022 ADEA GoDental Virtual Fair May 24 -25, Application are open for AADSAS & TMDSAS
      13. Medical: Applications are open for AMCAS, AACOMAS, TMDSAS and Creating an MCAT Study Plan
      14. Pharmacy: Jesuit Preference Guaranteed Interviews, Info Sessions, Virtual Fair, Summer Programs
      15. Physician Assistant: Virtual Fair, 11 in Michigan Comparison
      16. Allied Health: We have a new Physical Therapy Program in Michigan plus numerous programs & events
      17. Veterinary Medicine: Virtual Fair VMCAS & TMDSAS
      18. Naturopathic Medicine: Virtual Fair
      19. Optometry: Virtual Fair
      20. Podiatric Medicine: Temple Summer program, Virtual Fair
      21. Post Bac, Masters and PhD programs in Psychology & Biosciences: UMich PIBS Review, MS Biomedical Sciences
Posted in #pre-health | Comments Off on May 2022 Pre-Health Advising Newsletter

Ross University School of Medicine & AUC Recruit Detroit Mercy Titans, May 20 2022 from 10 to Noon Est.

Krystyna Kalata, Associate Director of Admissions, Student and University Partnerships is hosting online office hours for Titans on Friday May 20 between 10 and noon. 

Ross University School of Medicine and American University of the Caribbean are two amazing options for Titans desiring to become Doctors. The didactic semesters would be on island ( first 2 years) and the clinical years (years 3 & 4 of medical school) are back in the United States in local hospitals.

There are 3 start time a year for both Ross University School of Medicine and American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine. admits students three times a year, in January, May, and September. This means that you aren’t locked into a Fall start as you would be at many traditional medical schools. Instead, you have the freedom to start medical school when it feels right to you.

Instead of taking a full “Gap Year” to improve your competitiveness to applying in the next cycle – only to start medical school the year after that… consider the Medical Education Readiness Program, MERP. The Medical Education Readiness Program (MERP) is a 15-week medical school preparatory program focused on preparing aspiring medical students for success in medical school. MERP is offered to students who have been granted conditional acceptance. MERP program has a special no-risk fee policy that allows students who do not successfully complete the program to receive a refund of the full program fee. This policy applies to all MERP students who do not achieve passing grades, regardless of whether they complete the program or withdraw early. 

Ross https://medical.rossu.edu/admissions/merp

AUC https://www.aucmed.edu/academics/merp

Do you have questions about tuition, scholarships, financial aid, admissions etc. then engage 

Krystyna Kalata, MBA 

Associate Director of Admissions, Student and University Partnerships 

P 708.717.6487  E kkalata@adtalem.edu

500 W. Monroe, Suite 28 | Chicago, IL 60661 | adtalem.com

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Ross University School of Medicine & AUC Recruit Detroit Mercy Titans, May 20 2022 from 10 to Noon Est.

Live Online MCAT and Live Online DAT courses start next week

University of Detroit Mercy partnered with

Princeton Review

for two Live online exam courses this summer

Format: 1 credit course, fully online for current students, alumni and Guest students.  Guest Application

Flexible:

  • Princeton Review Instructors present live Monday – Friday in the afternoons.
  • Live topic specific sessions are recorded and uploaded within 24 hours.
  • Students can attend live and/or watch recordings of lectures and Q & A sessions
  • Books and study materials are mailed to residence or accessible online (ideal for traveling students)
  • The Princeton Review Portal with numerous resources is active for participants for 1 year with drills, study guides, & Supplemental materials

Cost: $1,129 1 credit

MCAT Ultimate 90 hour Course 

  • Tuesday, May 3 – Friday, July 1
  • 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
  • Full length MCAT exams, quizzes
  • Retail value $2,599 for only $1,129
  • AMCAS, AACOMAS & TMDSAS application coaching with Pre-Health Advisor

DAT Ultimate 55 hour Course

  • Tuesday, May 3 – Friday, June 10
  • 1:00 – 3:30
  • Both US and Canadian full-length DATs and study guides in the portal
  • AADSAS and TMDSAS application coaching with Pre-Health Advisor

Questions:

Contact Carmen Gamlin, Pre-health Coordinator & Advisor at gamlincd@udmercy.edu or (313) 993-1956

 

Posted in DAT, MCAT, Pre-Dent, Pre-Med | Comments Off on Live Online MCAT and Live Online DAT courses start next week

IKUS Life Enrichment Services Recruits Detroit Mercy Pre-Health Students

IKUS Life Enrichment Services is an organization that serves individuals with disabilities from the age of 5-80+!  Their goal is to help those with disabilities experience life to its fullest, allow them to gain some independence and offer support to their clients’ families and caregivers while assuring that their clients are taking part of adventures and helping them unlock their natural abilities.

We support people with disabilities. In the state of Michigan, a lot of the support systems for people with disabilities end at around age 26 and that’s where we pick things up.

One of the programs they provide is a Traditional Summer Camp known as Indiana Trails Camp and they are looking for individuals to join their team! IKUS is looking for Health Officers and Camp Counselors. HR Manager Erin Peraino stopped by to chat with Pre-Health Advisor Carmen Gamlin to highlight the awesome things they have going on at Indiana Trails Camp and to recruit Titans for a paid clinical summer camp positions! This is an opportunity to gain awesome experience in health care, and patient care as well as an opportunity for personal growth and enrichment.

So we’re actively searching for Health Officers. It offers a great opportunity for anybody going into the health field to really get exposure to a ton of different ailments or different diseases and different things they may not see and at the same time in an environment where you’re going to get into a water balloon fight in any moment! So it’s a really fun environment and also a huge experience for somebody.

For the Health Officer position we have at our summer camp, is a team of people that work with our camp nurse as apart of a health team…The health team does not need any specific experience but they will be exposed to a variety of different things.

The duration of Summer Camp is 9 weeks; from May 31-August 12. All sessions for summer camp begins Sunday afternoon and end Friday morning. Campers go home for  weekends and Summer camp employees have the weekends off. Additional benefits of working at IKUS for the Summer is housing and meals are provided and this is a paid position with pay being $325/week! Titans if you would like to apply to be apart of the  Summer Camp Staff at IKUS, please click the link here to apply.

We’re a residential camp, but were one of the only camps in the state of Michigan that has no weekends. So if you were to take a position as either a health officer or camp counselor, we’re hiring both. You would start on Sundays. Its a whole new group of people, at around 3:00pm and you’re done on Fridays before noon. So you have your entire weekend to do what you choose.

 

IKUS Life Enrichment will like to share testimony of a former Camp Counselor of her experience working at Indiana Trails Camp. View video here!

Posted in #pre-health, Clinical Experience for Pre-Health Students, Post Bach, Pre-Med, Pre-Occupational Therapy, Pre-PA, Summer programs for Pre-Health Titans | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on IKUS Life Enrichment Services Recruits Detroit Mercy Pre-Health Students

Detroit Mercy Master’s Entry Advanced Generalist Nursing (MEAGN) Program

University of Detroit Mercy – McAuley School of Nursing offers a Master’s in Nursing for those who have obtained a Bachelor’s Degree, in any field of study. That’s right, you do not have to be a nurse to earn this degree!

The Master’s Entry Advanced Generalist Nursing Program, also known as the MEAGN Program is a graduate-level degree program that allows individuals to earn a Master’s level degree in Nursing in less than 17 months. That is a little under five semesters! Pre-Health Advisor Carmen Gamlin spoke with Graduate Nursing Recruiter Julie Bazydlo as she outlined the basis of the MEAGN Program and how students can apply.

 

  1. What does this accelerated program look like in load and timeline?

In five semesters, you graduate with a Master’s in Nursing, so it’s a perk!

2. What are the benefits of a nursing program being Masters entry level?

So this is the first of its kind in Michigan… You graduate with your Masters in Nursing. You’re eligible to sit for the NCLEX and become a Registered Nurse. 

3. How would someone apply for admission?

You would apply right on the website, its FREE!

4. After graduation, what are the options?

[Students] pass their NCLEX can become an RN and then you don’t have to go for another Master’s Program…If you want to do advanced nursing, you just have to go for a post-masters certificate.

Please use this link to learn more about the MEAGN Program!

Posted in #pre-health, Nursing | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Detroit Mercy Master’s Entry Advanced Generalist Nursing (MEAGN) Program