MappdCon 2023 will be our first live, in-person pre-health conference!
October 6th-8th, 2023 in Baltimore, MD
Use the form below to join the waitlist to learn more!
DAY
EVENTS
SPEAKERS
ATTENDEES
Free | Virtual | Live
Welcome! What can you expect from today? What are you most excited for? What do you hope to learn? Come join us and share your thoughts and questions.
The medical school application is a long and complex one. Hear from each application system representative about the similarities, differences, and tips on applying!
Storytelling leads to connection. As a healthcare provider, as in life, you will be tasked to be in relationship with your patients. Storytelling is a powerful tool to support deeper and more meaningful relationships. But how do we tell good stories? What if we feel like we aren't any good at it? How are we supposed to build relationship with folks we don't know? Should we care to get better at telling our own stories and listening to the stories of others? Story Coach, Jeff Polish, has a few thought-provoking ideas to say!
While similar, the physician and physician-assistant path are not completely the same. Join a discussion between Savanna Perry, PA-C and Ryan Gray, MD to explore beyond the stats and numbers into what is most meaningful when deciding your specific pre-health path.
Those who fail to plan, plan to fail. There are many ways to prep for the MCAT - online, with a study group, in a live online class, with a tutor. What successful plans have in common are structure, consistency, and self-analysis.
So we know what medical school admissions looks like from the premed perspective, but what about from the perspective of medical school admissions folks? Let's peek inside med admissions to hear from three previous or current medical school admissions members.
There is no better place to learn about all things Casper & PREview than from the folks that created or represent them! Receive answers to your questions about the non-cognitive requirements for your medical school applications.
Join the Mappd Advising Team LIVE to ask questions and get answers to all your pre-health and premed questions!
Want to know what medical school is actually like? Let's hear directly from 4 current medical students about their first-hand experiences about med school life.
Hear from Ms. Jasmine Brown, a current 3rd year medical student AND author of the upcoming book, Twice As Hard discuss life as a 3rd year medical student, an author, and an advocate of supporting underrepresented minorities in science and medicine.
There's no getting around how expensive medical school is. Is there a way out of this mountain of debt?
Thank you for joining us today and listening to our amazing speakers! Hang around for some final tips from the Mappd Team and to see if you're one of our winners of some of our awesome prizes!
Experts from all over the Pre-Health World
Savanna Perry, PA-C is the founder of the PA Platform, a business and website for aspiring and current PAs. This platform presented Savanna and her team opportunities for two published books, hosting multiple online courses and virtual conferences, and a podcast. Savanna completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Georgia, and graduated from Augusta University’s PA Program in 2014. She has practiced exclusively in dermatology in Georgia for the past 8 years. In addition to clinical practice, Savanna is involved in education at her alma mater, always up for a conversation about social media and creating a business, and enjoys family time with her husband and 4 year old daughter.
Hunter is a Premium Tutoring with Blueprint MCAT prep and a veteran instructor with almost 10 years of experience under his belt. After graduating from Arizona State, he decided to take a gap year and teach science for a local non-profit. After discovering his love for teaching, that gap year turned into a gap 2 - 3 years. In-between hosting dissection labs for kids and lighting himself on fire for chemistry demonstrations, Hunter decided that it was time to get back on the pre-med track. After scoring a 521 on the MCAT, he realized that teaching was his calling and decided to use his MCAT expertise to help premeds ace the exam. In his free time, Hunter likes to brush up on his acting and performance skills by working on film projects in Los Angeles.
Meagan Landress is a student loan consultant for Student Loan Planner. Meagan was the first person in Georgia to acquire her CSLP® designation, as a Certified Student Loan Professional®. Her specialized education around student loan debt allows her to guide borrowers through informed repayment decisions, taking into account their full financial situation and financial goals. Meagan joined Student Loan Planner in 2019 and since has consulted on $160M+ of student loan debt for over 900 households.
Jeff Polish has had a circuitous career, starting as a research scientist in a Genetics lab. While earning his Ph.D, he came to two major conclusions: the first, he is not cut out for lab life; and second, most people have no idea how to communicate their Science in a way that is engaging and relatable to the public. These two conclusions led to his pivot into the story world where he has thrived as a Storytelling Coach and Consultant and created the non-profit organization, The Monti. Jeff believes in teaching people to communicate in a way that make listeners care, whether it's a personal story or a story of the molecular mechanisms involved in transporting sugar into Yeast cells. (By the way, if that didn't happen properly, good luck finding a decent loaf of bread.)
Sarah is an MS2 student at the Medical University of South Carolina. Prior to medical school, Sarah received a BS in Exercise Science with a minor in dance from USC. Following her undergraduate career, Sarah took a gap year to work as a medical assistant for an interventional spine practice in Charleston, SC. She is a first-generation college student, so naturally, Dr. Gray's free resources meant a lot to her on her journey. She became devoted to educating herself on everything she could about the pre-med process and found a true passion for mentorship along the way.
Sarah is the pre-clinical VP of an undergraduate mentorship program at MUSC called COM coaches as well as a member of the mentorship committee for the Medical Student Orthopedic Society (MSOS). She also serve as a COM team leader with the opportunity to mentor a small group of 9 incoming medical students and as a COM ambassador who speaks on admissions day panels and conducts prospective student tours.
In addition to mentoring, Sarah has found a true calling for leadership in medical school. She was elected class president during her first year and has been fortunate enough to work as a liaison between her class and the Dean's Office. She has the opportunity to sit on committees and offer a student's perspective on upcoming projects within the College of Medicine regarding curriculum, programming, and student affairs. She was even able to join 52 other medical student leaders from across the country at the RISE: Developing Future Leaders in Academic Medicine Conference at the AAMC.
Sarah hopes to keep working as an advocate for students in her future career.
Dr. Kelly Dore is an adjunct Associate Professor in the Departments of Medicine at McMaster University and Co-Founder of Altus Assessments. Dr. Dore completed her PhD in Health Research Methodology at McMaster University with a focus on Health Professions Education Research and Cognitive Psychology. Dr. Dore was the Inaugural Director of the Masters Science in Health Science Education program at McMaster University – an online MSc Program for Health Professionals Internationally, developing and coordinating the core course on assessment and evaluation. Dr. Dore has held multiple grants from both the Medical Council of Canada, NBME (Stemmler Grant), and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. She has received the Department of Medicine Internal Career Award for Quality in Patient Safety, Graduate Teaching Award, and was the recipient of the Canadian Association of Medical Education Award of Merit.
She is the Co-Creator of Casper & Duet, an online selection tools used internationally for selection into health professions education. In 2015, Altus Assessments Inc. was formed with Dr. Dore and Dr. Reiter as founders, offering the admissions screening test internationally.
Rachel is a veteran of the higher education services world. In the last decade she has served thousands of premedical students in preparing for the MCAT and in planning their path to medical school. Rachel worked at The Princeton Review as a regional director and trainer. She was an early member of Next Step Med, the team that changed the landscape of MCAT practice exams with the 2015 MCAT.
Rachel graduated from The Ohio State University where she studied Spanish and Organizational Management. She earned a certificate in Business Analytics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Varinia Grannum has worked in higher education and advising for more than 20 years. Most recently she served as Assistant Dean of Pre-Health and STEM Advising for eight years at Hofstra University in New York. During her tenure at Hofstra she advised hundreds of premed, pre-dental, pre-physician assistant and pre-nursing students achieve acceptances to outstanding programs all over the nation.
Dean Grannum earned her MSEd in Counseling with a specialization in College Student Development from Hofstra University. You can see her advising live each week, along with the rest of Advising team, on the Mappd YouTube channel series "Ask the Dean."
Courtney Lewis has worked in medical school admissions for more than 5 years, with the last 3 years serving as the Director of Admissions at Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine (BCOM). During her time at BCOM, Courtney was selected to be a member of the national AACOMAS Advisory Committee to help promote admissions best practices for all osteopathic medical schools. She was also elected Vice-Chair of the AACOM Admissions Officer Council.
Courtney grew up in underrepresented, underserved, low-income areas as the oldest of 8 children, and some of her siblings have special needs. She had to work through college and navigate the educational system on her own without advice or guidance, which is why she’s passionate about sharing information and helping those in similar circumstances. During her time at BCOM, minority matriculation grew to over 20% of each cohort. When not advising, Courtney spends time taking motorcycle trips, fishing, attending small venue indie rock shows, and playing with Chihuahua named Lola.
Jasmine Brown began writing Twice As Hard when she was twenty-two. A 2018 recipient of the Rhodes Scholarship, she used her time at the University of Oxford to complete the in-depth research and oral histories synthesized in this book. In the spring of 2020, she graduated from Oxford with Merit, earning an M.Phil. in History of Science, Medicine, and Technology. That fall, she began medical school at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Brown leverages her connection to her topic to create a work that is both immensely well-researched and personal.
Brown has been involved in advocacy work for many years. While in college, at Washington University in St. Louis, she founded the Minority Association of Rising Scientists and served as its president, working to provide minority students with resources to get involved in research as well as a community to support them along the way. It was her childhood dream to help increase the number of underrepresented minorities in science and medicine. Through her debut book and outreach efforts, she plans to do just that.
Enrique is the director of the Texas Medical and Dental Schools Application Service (TMDSAS) and Communications and Outreach Strategist for the Texas Health Education Service (TXHES). He joined the organization in 2010 as part of the Joint Admission Medical Program (JAMP). Enrique currently directs the application service, digital production, and communications teams, which engage the pre-health community to produce educational and support resources for aspiring health professionals via the Inside Health Education newsroom. Enrique holds a master’s degree in Higher Education Administration from Sam Houston State University and a B.A. from The University of Texas at Austin.
Outside of work, Enrique enjoys harvesting jalapeños and poblanos from his garden and playing with his dogs.
Taylor Jaczko is the Assistant Director of Application Services & Digital Outreach for AACOM. Taylor has worked in the health professions space for the past two years. Along with her team, Taylor ensures students and schools have a seamless application process. In addition, her team seeks to spread awareness and promote the field of osteopathic medicine to prospective medical students. Taylor has a MA in French Studies and is very passionate about higher education and student support.
Stephen Odafe is an MS1 at Uniformed Services University of the Health and Sciences. He is from North Carolina and spent quite some time in Nigeria (7-18 years old) before relocating back to North Carolina. He graduated high school at 14 and started college at 15, majoring in human anatomy for three years subsequently transferring and graduating from University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a BSc in Biology.
Prior to starting medical school, Stephen was awarded a Greensboro Medical Society Scholarship towards any medical school fees. While Stephen states that he did not have the greatest grades nor research experiences, he does have a passion for medicine and that his journey reflects. In Stephen's opinion, what matters most is grit despite the number of times one might fail. Coming from a third world country has made him passionate to assist premedical students with similar backgrounds stories to his, which typically correlates to not having much premedical guidance as well.
Luke is an MS3 MD/MPH student at the Long School of Medicine. He just recently finished his MPH practicum which was centered around starting a food pantry partnership between the San Antonio Food Bank and the Center for Refugee Services. Services.
In his time at UTHSCSA, he have also been an officer of Frontera de Salud, an officer for an Emergency Med/Ortho organization called Bandage and Brace, and the liaison for the MD/MPH students to the medical student council. Through Frontera de Salud, he was part of a group that submitted a poster from a study of attitudes of the local San Antonio population attending the COVID-19 vaccination clinic at UTHSCSA that ended up winning the Best of Show award at the 15th Annual Community Service Learning Conference. In addition, Luke helped to write a paper for this study that will be published in the Journal of Primary Care and Community Health in the coming months. Luke has some previous experience in orthopedics, namely the presentation of a poster on Gorham-Stout Syndrome, helping to write a paper on the top 100 papers on Fracture Surgery, and is in the process of helping to write a grant for a hip fracture study.
Luke is currently interested in pursuing orthopedics as a surgical subspecialty, but ultimately desires to work with underserved populations regardless of what specialty he ends up pursuing. In his free time, Luke likes to run, lift, and hang out with his dog, Ollie., as well as enjoys playing guitar and being outdoors camping, hiking, fishing.
Dr. Amiri is the current Associate Dean for Admissions at The Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine at The University of Vermont. She considers herself a passionate advocate for holistic review in admissions and a strong supporter for students in helping them to achieve their academic and professional goals. Dr. Amiri has served as the liaison for the Committee on Admissions (COA) for the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and as an AAMC Holistic Review facilitator.
Ryan is a former Flight Surgeon in the United States Air Force. Ryan graduated from the University of Florida (GO GATORS!) with a BS in Exercise and Sports Sciences, and received his MD from New York Medical College. After graduating from medical school, Ryan completed his internship through a Tufts Medical Center transitional medicine program at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital.
Ryan is the publisher of MedicalSchoolHQ.net and the Meded Media network, as well as the author of the Premed Playbook guide book series. You can hear him weekly on several podcasts including The Premed Years, OldPreMeds Podcast and The MCAT Podcast.
Dr. Wright has worked in medical education for more than 25 years. He served as Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education and Director of the Health Professions Advising Center for the University of Texas at Dallas and as the Director of Admissions at UT Southwestern Medical School. He also served as executive director of the Texas Medical and Dental Schools Application Service and editor-in-chief of APPLY Magazine.
Scott's interests include the psycho-social aspects of personal growth and professionalism, mindfulness and techniques to limit distractibility, and helping pre-health students through the arduous journey to fulfill their dreams. Dr. Wright has spoken on these and other topics throughout the USA and internationally.
Yunus Tekin is an OSM4 medical student applying to General Surgery for residency. He is originally from Upstate New York and is a first-generation college and medical school student. While at Burrell, he founded a Youth Medical Explorers program in Roswell, New Mexico that has since been adopted at all rotation sites as a part of Burrell’s curriculum. Yunus was selected by his peers to be a part of the Gold Humanism Honor Society due to his ongoing efforts to alleviate hardships those in rural communities face. He has been tutoring Step 1, Level 1, and in-house material, with over 100 students at each of his sessions, for the past two years. Yunus has a strong passion for mentoring, teaching, and serving in indigent communities.
Dana launched and oversees the AAMC Professional Readiness exam (PREview), a situational judgment test for medical school admissions and is leads research and development activities for residency selection and medical school admissions. Over her 14 years at the AAMC, this work has included the design and validation of virtual interviews for use in residency and medical school selection, researching and launching enhancements to the residency selection process, providing training and guidance about the value of structured interviews to residency and medical school admissions officers, developing competency models for the new Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT®) and for personal characteristics relevant to medical school performance, and research to explore innovation in residency selection.
Prior to joining the AAMC, she was an Assistant Professor of Industrial-Organizational Psychology at George Washington University and adjunct faculty at George Mason University, where she taught a graduate-level applied measurement course. She has published articles in the Journal of Organizational Behavior, International Journal of Selection and Assessment, Journal of Business and Psychology, Psychology, Public Policy and the Law, and Academic Medicine. She received her Ph.D. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from the University of Houston in 2005.
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