Panel of Centre med school students agree on one thing:
Listen to Joe

At the U of L School of Medicine, the top second-year, third-year and fourth-year medical students are all Centre alums.

RELEASED: March 8, 2007

DANVILLE, KY—More than 50 Centre College pre-medicine students filled an Olin Hall classroom to capacity Wednesday night to hear a panel of four alums who are currently in medical school discuss the ups, downs and in-betweens of getting in and through medical school. Though the four differed on favorite study habits, which medical school is best, and the proper way to interview, they unanimously agreed on one thing: listen to Dr. Joe Workman.

Workman, associate professor of chemistry, is also the pre-med advisor at Centre. For the past 12 years, Workman has helped Centre students gain entrance into some of the best medical schools in the country with his energetic teaching and by assisting students with MCAT study sessions and field trips to major medical schools. This year, 21 students in Centre's junior and senior classes are in the medical school application process.

Almost 30 percent of incoming freshmen at Centre are interested in medical school, and each will get to know Workman on a first-name basis during the four years of planning toward entrance. As a result of students’ hard work and Workman’s invaluable advising, Centre alums entering the medical school class of 2006 had an acceptance rate of 94 percent.

Centre alums on the panel were Marsh Ney '01, a first-year student at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine; Taylor Vaughan '06, also a first-year student at UK College of Medicine; Benny Klausing '06, a first-year student at the University of Louisville School of Medicine; and Chris Henley '04, a third-year student also at U of L School of Medicine.

After the four introduced themselves, Workman opened the floor for discussion, and eager students bombarded the panel with questions. Most wanted to know one important thing: What's the difference between going to medical school and going to Centre?

"Med school is a completely different animal than Centre," Klausing said. "Take advantage of your time at here at Centre, and spend your four years wisely. Take classes you want to take, ones that you're genuinely interested in."

Jokes Ney, "And my favorite was CentreTerm in Mexico."

Class size, faculty and student interaction and workload are three of the biggest differences between medical school and Centre.

"In med school you're sitting with the same 100 people in huge lecture halls," Vaughan said. "Unlike here at Centre, medical school professors aren't too open to interaction."

Klausing said the workload for his medical school curriculum is heavier than what he experienced at Centre, especially the amount of time he puts into studying on weekends. The biggest difference, he says, is that all work in medical school consists of tests.

"It's like taking the MCAT everyday," he laughs.

Henley said that toward the end of each block (medical school academic years are divided into blocks rather than semesters) it isn’t unusual for him to pull 16-hour study days.

Vaughan said that during medical school, a student's free time is whatever he or she makes of it. "Be sure you make some time for yourself, and spend your time wisely."

He added, "I came into med school ambitious and vowing to study ahead. But you can't, you just don't have the time."

The panelists agreed that many of the skills students learn at Centre­­—study habits, prioritizing and learning to relax—are important to medical school survival. This could account for the impressive fact that Henley shared with the audience:

At the U of L School of Medicine, the top second-year, third-year and fourth-year medical students are all Centre alums.

Ney suggested taking time off between graduating from college and going directly to medical school. In fact, it was a few years after graduating from Centre that Ney realized he wanted to go to medical school.

"Taking time off for my sanity was a great thing," said Ney, who traveled abroad, worked as a substitute teacher, and then earned a doctorate in physical therapy from Washington University in St. Louis before deciding that medical school was a perfect fit for him. Ney also admitted, "I wasn't ready for medical school when I graduated from Centre. I didn't think I'd ever go to medical school. There are different degrees of maturity, and at the time I wasn't at the right level."

Although the other three panelists went directly from Centre to their respective medical schools, they agreed with Ney that taking some time off isn't such a bad idea.

"You can be as prepared as anybody, but still fail out," Henley said. "Don't be afraid if you're considering taking time off—it won't make or break your medical career."

Added Ney, "If you have any doubts about going, think long and hard. Once you're in, you're in. The worst situation is to get into medical school and then realize you're miserable. Take some time off, figure it out and then go back if that's the right choice."

Workman jumped into the discussion to add that taking time off between undergraduate studies and medical school isn't exclusive to Centre. "A significant number of students take time off," he said.

The panelists agreed that the best way for pre-med students to gauge their true interest in pursuing medical school is to get medical experience while at Centre: shadow a doctor, do an internship at a hospital, and take science classes. Vaughan completed an internship at Ephraim McDowell Medical Center in Danville, and Klausing said that his enjoyment of science classes and research at Centre helped push him toward his decision to attend medical school.

Workman pointed out that while having a science background has its advantages when beginning medical school courses, he also said that students from a wide variety of majors offered at Centre are accepted into medical school. All four panelists graduated from Centre with science-related majors, but each of them knew medical school students who had majored in others areas, such as philosophy and English.

At the end of the discussion, Workman asked the panel one final question: What do you wish you'd done at Centre to better prepare you for medical school?

None of the four Centre alums had any regrets. But before the more than 50 students were dismissed, the panel offered tidbits of advice for the prospective medical students.

"Keep your perspective," Klausing said. "One test or one class won't make or break the rest of your life."

Added Vaughan, "I had about 75,000 people giving me advice on how to study. You'll figure out what works best for you while you're here at Centre. Stick with that."

Ney agreed. "You're going to get advice from everyone, and all of this tonight is strictly our own perspectives. Discover what's useful for your own sake."

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Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/

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