Contents

• Main Site
• Prospective Students
  • About the Health Professions Advising Office
  • FAQs for Prospective Students
  • International Students
  • Parents' Guide
  • Underrepresented Students
  • Visiting Purdue University
• Current Students
  • Applying to a Professional School
    • Professional File Service for letters of recommendation
    • Purdue's Application Guides PDFs
    • Preparing for Interviews
    • Asking for letters of recommendation
    • FAQ for Medical/Dental School Applicants
    • FAQ for all professional school applicants
    • Writing a Personal Statement
    • Aptitude Tests
  • Career Information
    • Information on Specific Careers and Educational Requirements
  • General Information
    • FAQs for Current Students
    • Information for International Students
    • Prehealth Student Organizations
    • Tips for Academic Success
    • Information for Underrepresented Students
• Faculty And Staff
  • General Information
  • Letters of Recommendation
    • FERPA Waivers
    • Purdue's Professional File Service
    • Timing of Letters
    • Tips for Writing Letters
  • Resources
• Links
  • Professional Organizations
  • Application Services
  • Health News Sites
  • Aptitude Tests

News and Events

Sept. 4, 2008 Pre-Dental Club Callout

Sept. 3 & Sept. 9, 2008 Caduceus Club Callout

Oct. 18, 2008 IU Dental Day at the Dental School

Welcome

The Office of Health Professions Advising at Purdue University provides you with the information you need to prepare for a career in a health profession--from choosing the right career for you to figuring out what credentials you need to enter that field and apply to various programs. We also offer a professional file service that stores and distributes your collected letters of recommendation to health professions programs. As an undergraduate student, Purdue can prepare you for the academic, moral, and ethical challenges you will face in any health career.

Students from all majors and with interests in any healthcare field are welcomed and encouraged to make use of the Health Professions Advising Office as a supplement to their academic advising. Appointments can be made by calling (765) 494-4747. Students can also e-mail questions to prehealth@purdue.edu.

Health in the Headlines

It's Application Time:  Medical school (AMCAS & AACOMAS) and dental school (AADSAS) application services are now open. A few reminders:

AMCAS--if you are applying to a school participating in the recommendation letter pilot project, contact Dr. Terstriep for instructions so that you set it up correctly. Submission for AMCAS begins on or around June 4th.

AACOMAS--can be submitted at any time.

AADSAS--make sure you set it up for electronic submission of letters of recommendation.  If you aren't sure how, contact Dr. Terstriep. Also be sure to check the Participating Schools List to see what supplementary application materials are due and when.

Beware of the Summer Sun!  The sun may feel great after a long winter, but be sure to grab a hat.  Skin cancers on the scalp or neck are more deadly than those elsewhere on the body, according to recent research at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.  The BBC News (4/22/08) reported that according to Professor of Dermatology, Nancy Thomas, who led the study, "Only 6% of melanomas present with the disease on the scalp or neck, but those patients account for 10% of melanoma deaths."  So besides using sunscreen, add a wide-brimmed hat to protect your scalp and neck

From BBC News: 4/21/08

MCAT Taking New Identity Precautions:  The Association of American Medical Colleges is upgrading its identity-verification procedures and will soon require digital fingerprints for all MCAT test takers.  A number of participating medical schools will then verify that the students they are interviewing and enrolling are the same people who took the MCAT.  In past year, ink fingerprints have been used and forwarded to medical schools, but it was difficult to make use of these as a fingerprint expert was necessary to make comparisons.  Under the new system, medical schools will be expected to check the identities of all students.

From Chronicle of Higher Education: http://chronicle.com/free/2008/05/2830n.htm 5/14/08

Need another reason to go into healthcare?  Boring jobs numb your mind!  Yep--scientists have studied this phenomenon. While performing monotonous tasks, our brain switch to a "rest mode." Studies at the University of Bergen, Norway found that the brain foreshadows a mistake with a particular pattern of activity.  As the brain invests less effort to complete the same task the researchers found a reduction in the activity in the prefrontal cortex and an increase in activity in an area which is more active in states of rest. Researchers are contemplating whether a devices that could assist people in monotonous jobs to help them focus. Hopefully you won't have to worry about having too many mind numbing days in a career in healthcare.

From BBC News: 4/22/08