Biology Department

Introduction

The Pre-health Science concentration (designated BIOH) within the biology major at Spring Hill College is designed to optimally prepare students for the professional medical programs and allied health fields listed below.

Professional Medical Programs:

	Medicine – Allopathic (MD), Osteopathic (DO), and Podiatric (DPM)
	Dentistry – DDS or DMD
	Optometry – OD
	Veterinary Medicine – DVM
	Pharmacy – Pharm. D

Allied Health Fields:

	Clinical Nutrition	Physical Therapy
	Cytotechnology	Physician Assistant
	Health Administration	Radiologic Sciences
	Health Information Management	Respiratory Therapy
	Medical Technology	Surgeon’s Assistant
	Nuclear Medicine Technology

Students intending to pursue one of the allied health fields following graduation from Spring Hill should check with the schools to which they plan to apply for course requirements not met within the BIOH major.

 

Overview of the Program

Pre-health science biology is the single most popular major of new freshmen entering the college each year. Spring Hill has a long-standing tradition of providing a broad-based, academically sound background for students who desire to become health care professionals. We know first-hand what strengths, skills, and experiences students must develop in order to gain admission to the school of their choice. The excellence of our program is recognized and appreciated by the professional and graduate schools to which our students apply and are accepted.
There are three aspects of our program which set it apart from others in our region:

1. The Core Curriculum - Medical schools seek students who have a broad-based educational background rich in the humanities. Exactly the sort of coursework available to students through the college’s Core Curriculum.
2. Preparation for a Post-graduate Education - Our graduates who have entered health professional schools have confirmed the strength of their undergraduate preparation at Spring Hill. Many of the textbooks that we use in our upper division biology courses are the same texts used to teach those subjects in medical school. Often students report that subjects were taught in greater depth at Spring Hill than they were in medical school.
3. Support - Pre-health science students receive guidance and support
   from the faculty in every aspect of their pre-medical education. There are
   several group meetings held each year dealing with issues such as: the policies and procedures for applying to medical school, and preparation for the MCAT. The Directors of Admission of our state-supported schools of dentistry, medicine, and pharmacy, visit our campus each year (as does a representative from the school of medicine at LSU), and students have the opportunity to meet with these representatives individually. Typically, by the time a student makes application to the schools of their choice at the end of their junior year, they are well known by the admissions officers of those schools.

Frequently Asked Questions
What is the acceptance rate of your students applying to medical school?
This is the most frequently asked question by prospective pre-medical students and their parents, and we are proud to say that since 1995 approximately 90% of Spring Hill students who have applied to health-related professional and graduate programs have eventually been accepted. This is in contrast to the national acceptance rate of 38.2% as published by the American Association of Medical Colleges. In reality however, the acceptance rate of graduates is probably one of the least important factors to be considered when selecting a college for a pre-medical education. A student who is bright, motivated, has good standardized test-taking ability and interviews well, will have an excellent chance of acceptance to medical school regardless of the overall acceptance rate of the undergraduate institution they attend. Likewise, a student who perhaps is bright, but not particularly motivated, lacks standardized test-taking skills, and interviews poorly, will not have a good chance of acceptance even if the acceptance rate of students from their undergraduate institution has been 100% for the past 50 years.

Where do your graduates go to medical school?
Students will always have their best chance of acceptance at the state-supported medical school(s) of their state of residence. So, Louisiana residents go to the schools of medicine at LSU-Shreveport and New Orleans, Mississippi residents to the University of Mississippi, and Alabama residents to either UAB or the University of South Alabama. Our students have also been accepted to schools of medicine associated with Jesuit institutions such as Creighton University, Georgetown, and Loyola of Chicago.

Do I have to major in a science to go to medical school?
No. Medical schools require that an applicant have a bachelor’s degree in some (any) discipline. If a student chooses to pursue a major other than a science, then in addition to meeting the requirements for a degree in their major, they will also have to take one year of Biology, one year of General Chemistry, one year of Organic Chemistry, and one year of Physics.
For further information regarding our program, please contact the college’s Health Professions Advisor, Dr. Paul Kohnen at (251) 380 – 3072 or at pkohnen@shc.edu

Applying to Medical School
Selection Factors for Acceptance to Professional/Graduate School
Decisions to admit candidates are based upon multiple factors that are to a degree, unique to each school. In general, however, all schools are looking for (1) evidence of an ability to accomplish the academic work necessary to progress through the school’s curriculum, and (2) evidence of possession of the personal qualities and attributes of physicians. These qualities are measured by (1) academic record (college grades, particularly science grades), (2) scores on the MCAT or other appropriate admission exam, (3) letters of evaluation, (4) the impression made in your personal interview. Other somewhat less important factors that will affect your acceptance are work/volunteer experience in a medical setting and your extracurricular activities.

Academic Record
Your academic record (grades) will be the single most important factor in determining your acceptance to medical school. The academic record includes the cumulative GPA, the science GPA (biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics), and trend in performance. Trends are important; a poor freshman year followed by better sophomore and junior years is preferred to a good freshman year followed by a declining record. A good academic record is evidence of both high motivation and ability. In recent years the average GPA of students accepted to medical school nation-wide and within our region has been near 3.70.
In addition, college transcripts are carefully reviewed from the standpoint of the credit hours carried during successive academic periods. In general, schools prefer candidates who have accomplished their college work on a normal full-time schedule (even if they are employed).

Medical College Admission Test (MCAT)
The MCAT is taken in the Spring or Summer during the year of application - normally, the junior year of college. The MCAT is an extremely important factor in evaluating an applicant for medical school. In medical school and beyond, you will have to pass national standardized exams. Since many of these exams show high correlation with each other, medical schools are most interested in candidates who have demonstrated proficiency in testing by doing well on the MCAT. In addition, MCAT scores are valid predictors of academic success in the basic medical sciences and they provide committees with a standardized measure of academic performance for all examinees under equivalent conditions.
The range of acceptable MCAT scores varies among schools with the national average composite score of those accepted usually being around 29. By-the-way, your ACT composite score is an excellent predictor of your performance on the MCAT. Studies have shown that most students will earn a MCAT score that is within two points of their ACT composite score.
Additional information concerning the MCAT is available at http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/.

Personal Qualities and Attributes
Medicine demands superior personal attributes of its students and practitioners. Integrity and responsibility assume major importance in the classroom and research laboratory, as well as in relationships with patients and colleagues. Medical schools also look for evidence of other traits such as leadership, social maturity, purpose, motivation, initiative, curiosity, common sense, perseverance, and breadth of interest. Evidence of the above characteristics is sought through information obtained from the personal statement on applications, evaluations by institutional pre-professional advisory committees, and interviews.
Generally, a composite letter of evaluation from the pre-professional advisory committee of the applicant’s undergraduate college where premedical courses are taken is required as opposed to individual letters of recommendation, although some schools require both.
Students are evaluated by the Pre-professional Advisory Committee of the college in the Spring semester of their junior year. The Health Professions Advisor will conduct a meeting informing students of the details of the evaluation process. To be eligible for a Composite Letter of Evaluation a student must have completed the courses required for admission to medical school by the end of the semester in which application is made for the composite letter. In addition, if a student is applying to medical, dental, or veterinary school, she/he must have a cumulative and science GPA of at least 3.30. If applying to a field of allied health, the student must have a cumulative and science GPA of at least 3.00.
The Composite Letter of Evaluation written by the committee represents an objective and honest appraisal of the student’s potential to be a successful medical student and professional. These letters point out both the strengths and weaknesses of a candidate. On multiple occasions over the past several years the directors of admission of the schools to which our students apply have expressed their appreciation for the objective and frank nature of the letters written by the committee. Bear in mind, through their academic performance and conduct, in effect, students write their own letters of evaluation beginning with their first day of class in their freshman year.
In addition to the qualitative factors discussed in the text of the letter, the committee considers the student’s academic record and makes a consensus judgment, placing the student in one of seven categories:

	Highest Recommendation Possible
	Highly Recommended
	Recommended with Complete Confidence
	Recommended with Confidence
	Recommended
	Recommended with Reservations
	Not Recommended

 

The Medical School Application Process
The American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) is a centralized processing service to which 109 of the 125 U.S. MD-granting institutions currently belong. AMCAS benefits both the applicant and the participating medical schools by efficiently collecting, coordinating, and processing data, which frequently reduces the time and expense of application. The AMCAS application is web-based and is available at www.aamc.org. Similar application services exist for the other health professional schools.
The time required from submission of an application to matriculation at most medical schools varies from 15 to 18 months. Therefore, those who want to begin medical school in the year they graduate from Spring Hill College will apply during the summer between their junior and senior years.
Applicants are encouraged to submit their application as early as feasible in the admission cycle. An application that arrives just before deadline may have a significantly lower chance of acceptance for a student with marginal academi credentials. As described below, the majority of medical schools select their students by rolling admissions. This means that schools do not wait until their deadlines have passed but instead review and accept applicants as their applications are completed. Therefore, if you submit an application later than earlier in the applications period, fewer seats in the class will be available.
If you take the MCAT in the summer, it is best to submit everything well before MCAT scores are returned. This places you in the best position to be reviewed, since your application will be complete at each school once MCAT scores arrive.
The responsibility for the admission process at each medical school is delegated to an admission officer who organizes and conducts the procedures for the receipt and processing of applications. A candidate’s credentials are reviewed and decisions to admit or reject a candidate are made by an admission committee. The composition of this committee varies from school to school but most are composed principally of faculty members from both basic science and clinical departments. Frequently, current medical students and alumni are included on the committee.
After receiving a candidate’s application through AMCAS, a school may send the applicant a secondary application which requires additional information to be submitted by the applicant. The composite letter of evaluation written on behalf of the student is normally requested at this time.
Applicants with strong credentials are contacted by the admission office to arrange an interview appointment. The admission committee interviews applicants on a weekly basis throughout the fall, winter, and early spring. Interviewed applicants are informed of the committee’s decision sometime after the interview with the decision being the offer of an acceptance, rejection, or a place on the alternate list. Information concerning how to prepare for a medical school interview can be found at http://www.mommd.com/interview.shtml.
As the process continues through the admission cycle, acceptances are offered until the requisite number of acceptees is achieved to fill all the positions in the entering class for that year. This is a process referred to as rolling admissions.
Be judicious in terms of the number of schools to which you apply. Remember, you have your best chance of acceptance at the state-supported schools in your home state. You will want to apply to each of those schools, and a select number (less than 5) private schools, especially those affiliated with Jesuit institutions.
Applicants with particularly outstanding credentials and who desire to attend one medical school in particular, may want to apply to that school’s early decision program. By applying as an EDP candidate, the individual agrees not to apply to any other U. S. medical school until any of the following occurs: (1) receipt of an EDP rejections; (2) receipt of a formal release from the EDP commitment, or (3) the October 1st notification deadline has passed. In addition, the applicant also agrees to attend the school if offered an EDP acceptance.
Each year about one-third of the applicants to medical school will be accepted to more than one school. To provide an orderly and fair admission process, candidates are obligated to hold no more than one acceptance at a time. An applicant receiving acceptances from two or more schools simultaneously is expected to accept the offer of the more preferred school and notify the others that their offers are not accepted.

How to be a Successful Pre-health Science Student
Introduction

As stated earlier, Pre-health Science Biology is the single most popular major for students entering the college each year, and the vast majority of our students who apply to health-related professional or graduate programs are accepted. However, while the faculty want every student to be successful and will help you any way that they can to achieve your educational goals, you need to realize that only about one in four of the students who begin the program as freshmen, make it to the point in their junior year when they apply to professional/graduate school.
A bachelor’s degree in Biology, like that in any other science discipline, hould be viewed as a “stepping stone” to an advanced degree. In other words, a bachelor’s degree in a science will not place you in the market for a well paying job upon graduation. Therefore, students who recognize that they are not making progress toward being a successful applicant to professional/graduate school, or are so advised by their academic advisor, should strongly consider changing their major prior to the Fall semester of their junior year. A change of major prior to the start of the junior normally affords adequate time to graduate within four years of entering the college.
In terms of assessing your academic progress, remember, the average cumulative and science GPA of students accepted to medical school is around a 3.70. You don’t have to earn all “A”s in your courses, but you need all “A”s and “B”s, with more “A”s than “B”s. A grade of “C” or “W” in one science course probably won’t eliminate you from consideration as an applicant to medical school, but it won’t enhance your candidacy either.
Also bear in mind that the science courses you take in your first year are introductory level courses. If you fail to earn “A”s and “B”s in those courses, your chances of doing better in more advanced courses are
slim at best.

The Profile of Successful and Unsuccessful Students
Those students who are ultimately successful in terms of gaining acceptance to the professional or graduate school of their choice possess multiple common characteristics, as do those that are not successful.
The successful students typically enter the college with an outstanding academic record in high school, and possess excellent standardized test-taking skills as evidenced by their performance on the ACT or SAT. Successful students also demonstrate a high level of motivation and a good work ethic. Simply put, successful students are willing to make whatever level of effort is required for them to be successful. They study between 20 and 40 hours each week, rarely if ever stay out late on a school night, and never miss class. In addition, they tend to sit close to the front of the classroom, are consistently attentive in class, and frequently ask and answer questions. Lastly, successful students study with the objective of learning the material, not “cramming” the material the night before the exam.
Those students destined to be unsuccessful frequently enter the college unprepared to begin the normal sequence of science and math courses listed below. Unsuccessful students typically are not willing to make the level of effort required for them to be successful pre-professional students. They demonstrate a disconnect between what they ultimately want to achieve, and what it will take for them to get there. These students tend to sit at or near the back of a classroom, are not particularly attentive, and almost never ask or answer questions. They study no more than 10 hours a week, party on school nights, and miss class. They “study” by cramming material the night before the exam, thus, even if they earn a good
grade on an exam, they fail to retain the material for future courses.

Attitude and Conduct of Pre-professional Students
The objective of the pre-professional program at Spring Hill College is to prepare you for a postgraduate education, not only in terms of presenting subject matter that you will be expected to know, but also with regard to the expectations and demands that will be placed on you concerning your attitude and conduct. All students at Spring Hill College are expected to be polite and courteous to their instructors and classmates, arrive to class on time and remain in their seat until class is dismissed, and turn cell phones and pagers off before entering the classroom building.

The Curriculum
Students who graduate from Spring Hill College and are successful applicants to health-related professional and graduate programs typically take science and math courses in the following sequence:

Fall Semester of Freshman Year
Principles of Biology (lecture and lab.)
General Chemistry I (lecture and lab.)
Calculus I

Spring Semester of Freshman Year
Microbiology (lecture and lab.)
General Chemistry II (lecture and lab.)
Basic Statistics for the Sciences

Fall Semester of Sophomore Year
Human Anatomy & Physiology I (lecture and lab.)
Organic Chemistry I (lecture and lab.)

Spring Semester of Sophomore Year
Human Anatomy & Physiology II (lecture and lab.)
Organic Chemistry II

Fall Semester of Junior Year
Genetics
Physics with Calculus I (lecture and lab.)
Biology/Chemistry electives

Spring Semester of Junior Year
Cell Biology
Physics with Calculus II (lecture and lab.)
Biology elective

Summer Between Junior and Senior Year
Take the MCAT

Senior Year
Biology/Chemistry electives