The semester is wrapping up, and as we enter the holiday season, many of us are thinking about the presents that need wrapping up. Final exams are underway, and students, faculty and staff alike are looking forward to spending time with family.

As I reflect on this semester, one thing stands out – we are always busy doing all we can at the Mallory-Wilson Center to help students achieve their dreams. And that’s really what the Center is about, to “enhance and enrich premedical and pre-health education at Miami University by providing the resources, information, and support that enable students interested in a career in healthcare to make informed decisions about their professional goals and to develop a plan to achieve those goals.”

Our curricular and extracurricular programming continues to attract and engage students interested in healthcare-related careers. Programming at the Center includes:

We have been focused on what we can do to better achieve our mission, and how alumni can help us. The Center oversees a variety of alumni-endowed scholarships which are based on academic merit, financial need, as well as the Messenger Loan Fund and the Frankel Outstanding Premedical Student Award Fund. While our scholarship support for premedical students is strong, we hope to grow our support for students pursuing other healthcare career paths, including careers as dentists, optometrists, physician assistants/associates, physical and occupational therapists and pharmacists.

Miami alumni participation in our healthcare-related programming is strong. Alumni are engaging with our students in the classroom and during our extracurricular programming. The Mallory-Wilson Center recognizes the significant time and financial contributions alumni make when they return to Miami or participate virtually to help our students, and we are incredibly grateful. One area in which we are interested in growing is our preceptorship program, which is an extended, immersion-style shadowing experience. We try to match our interested students with alumni volunteers, some of whom even offer living accommodations for the students during the preceptorship. We are only limited by the number of Miami alumni physicians and healthcare professionals that participate in our program. If you would like to get involved, reach out to us. There, you can complete an alumni questionnaire and volunteer.

We continue to be enthusiastic about the future of the Mallory-Wilson Center and look forward to continued successes in our mission. Thank you for your interest in Miami and the Mallory-Wilson Center. Your feedback is important to us, so please do not hesitate to contact us with comments or suggestions, and stop by when you’re in town.

Best wishes and stay healthy,

As I sit down to write this, it is the final week of classes for the fall 2023 semester, and I can’t help but think “man, the time has flown by…slowly!” Every semester brings with it a level of excitement in welcoming the 700 returning students and 400 new pre-health students back to campus, planning events, and the rush of switching from a more project-focused workload, to the rush of back to back appointments. This year, I am fortunate to have the help of a student intern we were able to obtain through AmeriCorps’ Service+ program. Senior biology and premedical studies student Mason Schmitt stepped up to take on this role, and has been a breath of fresh air. While the same consistently full schedule and campus commitments outside of regular business hours were no stranger this semester, Mason has been there to take on the extra responsibilities that have caused so much stress in the past, and has been a wonderful colleague to run ideas past. We’ll be sad to see him go - although he does have some exciting plans we’ll let him share in the next newsletter - but this is a role we hope to continue filling every academic year if the resources are available!

The MWC Student Advisory Board has also become an official student organization on campus, with Nick Stanich as president, Olivia Stenger as vice president, Lauren Kavenagh as secretary, and Mason Schmitt as treasurer. They welcomed 11 returning members and 20 new members, and have been exploring ways not only to help our office, but also to help pre-health students university-wide as a more independent group. Some things they are hoping to implement include fundraising to provide test-prep awards they can hand out to students, workshops designed to help students outside of PMD courses and meetings with me, and a webpage of resources, links, advice, and success stories.

I am so grateful for the help of all of these students, as it is a challenge balancing a case-load of 1100 students, while trying to provide everyone with the additional resources and programming we pride ourselves on offering. The longer I am here at Miami, the more I feel a part of the campus and pre-health community, and am increasingly proud of the students we have! Although we live in a world with wars, political feuds, and other more-personal struggles individuals face, these students continue to persevere, excel in their classes, and to improve the community in which we live. Over the years, I feel as though I have learned and benefitted from knowing them as much, if not more, than they have from me!

I’m looking forward to another great semester in the spring, although I hope winter break takes its time. We already have some exciting things planned, and I can’t wait to share those with you in May!

The 2022-23 recipient of the Ken and Joan Frankel Outstanding Premedical Student Award is Haley Sieg. Haley is a Theater/Biomedical Engineering double major, with a co-major in Premedical Studies, and minors in Musical Theatre and Dance. She has achieved an outstanding GPA and MCAT score.

As exceptional as her academic record has been, her extracurricular involvement really sets her apart, in which she has been able to find that connection between science and the arts. She has been able to leverage her passion for theatre and dance in unexpected ways. For example, she was part of the inaugural group of theatre students trained to act as patients for our nursing students. During these simulations, the actors must realistically present to the students to help them prepare for real life clinical situations. Continue reading about Haley.

The 2022-2023 awardee, Dr. Kathy Killian, is an associate professor at Miami University. She teaches a wide range of courses, including human physiology to many premedical and pre-health students. As one of the co-developers of the Neuroscience co-major, she is well known to students enrolled in either the co-major or minor, as she teaches an introductory seminar in neuroscience as well as upper and graduate-level courses in neurophysiology. 

In addition, her neuroscience and behavior lab, home to many undergraduate researchers over the years, investigates the link between the insect immune system and the regulation of adult neurogenesis and brain plasticity, with the overarching goal of understanding the immune system’s ability to influence brain function and animal behavior. She is also a continuing member on Miami’s Pre-health Advisory Committee for well over a dozen years. Read more about Dr. Killian.

I went into Miami wanting to be an art major, however I decided on starting as a systems analytics major since my parents were not very keen on the art major idea. I planned on being a veterinarian since I was interested in animals, so I then switched to a Zoology major. I decided to take extra classes to graduate with both a Zoology and Microbiology degree. I did not know what I wanted to do after graduation, so I applied to master programs. There was an opening at University of Cincinnati, so I enrolled in a program there where I was working for three months in a pathology lab and was then in school for three months. While working at the pathology lab, the residents there advised me to look into the medical school path. So, I ended up applying to medical schools at the same time that I was working at TGI Fridays. I then got a job as a medical technician, but on my first day I got the news that I had been accepted to medical school, I quit that job.

In medical school, I had preconceived notions about wanting to specialize in either plastic surgery or psychiatry. I quickly realized psychiatry was not for me after I finished rotations, so I decided to do a surgery residency. While in this residency, I had thoughts about completing a subspecialty, but realized that doing a subspecialty would total in five years of residency. I had already been in school for such a long time I decided to go forth with general surgery and I haven’t looked back.

The people I’ve met and built relationships with! I’ve found a great group of people that I’ve been able to experience medical school with and it has been so special! From celebrating Friendsgiving, each other’s birthdays, and running a half marathon together —it has been such an honor to be able to create friendships with people who are going through the same thing as I am!

Continue reading about Bethany's experiences.

I think the science classes here at Miami did a great job of preparing me for medical school. The first year of medical school you spend a lot of time studying basic sciences and found I had a really good foundation to build on. Additionally, I think Miami has lots of great opportunities to get involved with outside of medicine such as intramural sports, clubs, music ensembles, and volunteering that helped me stand out during the application process. Ultimately, Miami prepared me to be a well-rounded medical student with the skills I needed to succeed as a student and a future physician.

Continue reading about Chelsey's experiences.

As a premedical student at Miami, I was able to take advantage of the MWC preceptorship program and spend my 2023 spring break in Tulsa, OK with OB/GYN Dr. Paul Gehring and Dr. Gena Gray. I cannot express how thankful I am for this experience. It was truly an amazing, eye opening, and one-of-a-kind experience.

I have shadowed doctors in my hometown of Naperville, IL in a variety of specialties, but this was a completely different experience, in that it gave me a well-rounded understanding of the speciality and lifestyle that physicians in this field have. I was able to ask any questions that I had, and learn not only about a specialty that I originally had no interest in, but also about how this profession can impact your day-to-day life, as I was able to stay with the Gehrings.

This past October, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in STEM (SACNAS)’s National Diversity in STEM (NDiSTEM) conference in Portland, Oregon.

SACNAS is a pioneering organization that champions the success of minority scientists like myself, from college students to professionals, in obtaining advanced degrees, careers, and leadership positions in STEM. This semester, I was fortunate enough to serve as the President of our chapter at Miami, and helped plan some events to support our members.

One of these events included a trip to the NDiSTEM conference which is the largest multidisciplinary and multicultural STEM diversity conference in the country. With over 5,000 attendees, this conference provides an unparalleled platform for networking, mentorship, and exposure to cutting-edge multidisciplinary research.

At the conference, I presented my research from Katia Del Rio-Tsonis' Eye Regeneration Lab, which is where I have served as an undergraduate researcher for the past year. My poster was a culmination of results from the academic year as well as my summer internship as a Society for Developmental Biology Choose Development! Fellow. I was glad to have practiced my scientific communication skills and to have engaged with leading STEM professionals who were interested in the research I was presenting.

In addition to presenting, I also attended various sessions surrounding professional development which were tailored to a minority audience. Lastly, the Career and Graduate Exposition, in which hundreds of employers and graduate schools are available to speak with attendees, was a highlight of the conference for me. I was able to learn more about the facets of medical school applications and hear what these incredible institutions are looking for in students.

This being said, the relationships I have formed and the sessions that I have attended will equip me with tools, knowledge, and opportunities that I will utilize to be a better leader and scientist throughout my academic and professional journey. Attending this conference would not have been possible without the support of a Miami alumnus. I am very grateful for the Mallory Wilson Center’s continued relationship with Miami graduates because it has helped students like myself pursue their academic endeavors and have meaningful experiences throughout their undergraduate careers.

Nikki was born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana and came to the university in 2019. She majored in Kinesiology, Pre-Medicine and minored in Spanish. Nikki is a Pre-Health student who is half Latino and half Scandinavian. Her father is from Peru and her mother is from Sweden. She has always been involved with her culture from as early as she can remember. From her early childhood, she was taught how to speak Spanish and looked forward to continuing that at Miami.

However, her Miami experience was different and more difficult than she expected. As a first generation Latino student, she felt as if she did not have as much of a support system as other students. Living in the dorm her first year, her peers were mainly white. Along with the dorms, her pre-health courses did not contain a diverse group of students. As cultural diversity is an important part of Nikki’s life, she felt that she had no one else to share that with. She was unsure of who to reach out to at the university, so she took matters into her own hands.

Nikki is a well recognized student, in and out of her academics. Her main goal was to create a positive environment for Latino students on campus. In May of 2021, she founded Alpha Psi Lambda, a Co-Educational Latino-Oriented Fraternity at Miami University. This brought many Latino students to come together and allowed them to flourish in their culture. Nikki finally felt like she was home. Along with Alpha Psi Lambda, she was selected to join Delta Epsilon Mu. DEM is Miami University's Pre-Professional Health Co-Educational Fraternity. Her acceptance in the Pre-Health Fraternity allowed her to gain confidence and acceptance in her classes and academics. She prides herself on her involvement and feels like they have both impacted her positively. 

As Miami University does have low statistics regarding diversity, especially in the Pre-Health programs, Nikki feels as if it is getting better as more diversity groups are emerging on campus. After the founding of Alpha Psi Lambda, more Latino organizations have been made. Her advice to minority students who already attend Miami or prospective students who want to attend Miami is to get in touch with your own background and your future career. She emphasizes that it can be overwhelming, but encourages students to get involved. It is ultimately up to you on your experience, and every student should make the most of it. 

As Nikki is graduating for her undergraduate degree in May of 2023, she is completing her Masters at Miami University in Kinesiology with a concentration in exercise and health sciences by Spring of 2024. All around, Nikki has been awarded from Miami University for her involvement on campus and is greatly acknowledged by her professors and peers. 

We traveled to Atenas, Costa Rica, where we stayed for most of the time with host families. The program was set up through a teacher based in Costa Rica who teaches at a world language school and sets up study abroad trips like these. Every day we had class in the morning. Class consisted of either a lecture, a guest speaker, and one day we even had a dance class. In the afternoon, we would do a variety of different activities such as touring the local town and learning about their history and culture. In addition, we also took multiple excursions. Some of my favorites were our trips to a coffee farm, Casa del Sol, a medicinal herb farm to learn about natural medicinal alternatives, and an endangered species habitat.

Yes, even with my trip having certain COVID-19 restrictions, I was still able to gain a very different perspective on healthcare across the globe. For example, Costa Rica’s healthcare system is much more accessible for those who do not have the means to afford private health insurance. There is more of a focus on patient-centered healthcare versus corporate-centered healthcare. For these reasons, Costa Rica has one of the best healthcare systems in the world, and I think it was important to learn about a different perspective in such a corporate-driven society.

While there was certainly a language barrier, staying with a host family allowed me to learn how to create trust with people of a different culture and language. This is a valuable skill that I believe can transfer over to the healthcare industry. As a physician, I am going to have to develop relationships with people that are nothing like me and this was my first real experience with this. This short-term bond I developed with my family is very similar to what a patient/physician experience would be like.

Costa Rica contains one of the five blue zones in the world. This means that the people here live longer than they do anywhere else. For example, an eighty year old in Costa Rica will look like a sixty year old in the United States. While it is still unclear what the exact cause of this is, we were able to learn how they eat majority whole foods and use the sun to cook.