UF Pre-Health Blog: WVSOM Admissions E-Newsletter (September 2018)

2018-2019 Admissions Requirements

Please encourage students to review our detailed list of requirements online at www.wvsom.edu/requirements. For the 2019 AACOMAS cycle, the minimum science GPA is a 3.0 and the minimum MCAT is a 490.

Average Accepted Student Profile from 2018 Applicants:

Science GPA	3.5
MCAT	500

UPCOMING EVENTS


Fall Open House Saturday, November 17, 2018 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. (EST) Meet and greet breakfast Curriculum overview Lunch and networking Tour our state-of-the-art facilities Learn about our admissions process Financial aid presentation Encourage your interested students to come learn more about WVSOM!	We invite you to bring a group of students to the Open House. Just have all students complete the registration form online. Students can REGISTER ONLINE NOW: https://www.wvsom.edu/Admissions/open-house

SERVING THE STUDENT OF WV & THE HEALTH CARE NEEDS OF ITS RESIDENTS

Expanding beyond WVSOM's classrooms and the campus

The medical school strives to serve, first and foremost, the state of West Virginia and the health care needs of its residents, emphasizing primary care in rural areas. WVSOM programs such as the Center for Rural and Community Health (CRCH) help serve the needs of West Virginians in conjunction with assisting and working with community-based organizations.

WVSOM's mission to serve the needs of West Virginians isn't just one sided - there are also meaningful benefits for students and alumni who serve the health care needs of residents in rural areas.

Dimitri Tito, now a 3rd year student, has already committed so much of his time and efforts to helping his community through volunteer efforts.

Even before Dimitri officially started medical school he jumped in to volunteer for a community in need. Dimitri arrived in Lewisburg in the Summer of 2016, the same time much of southern West Virginia was impacted by heavy flooding. A group of second-year students organized a Facebook group seeking volunteers to work and cleanup houses in nearby towns. Dimitri didn't hesitate to help - even going as far as to crawl in spaces underneath houses to ensure a clean foundation.

"It was an opportunity to start helping and I just got to West Virginia," he recalled. "We organized many different trips to houses. Right away, I felt the involvement that WVSOM had in the community, and for me, it was important."

In addition to flood recovery efforts, Dimitri has volunteered for WVSOM Cares, has taken blood pressure readings at the state fair and is a member of the Cultural Integrity Committee, which is in the process of organizing culturally diverse standardized patient encounters as a learning opportunity for students. Dimitri, who is heavily involved in the community as a student, hopes to eventually enter a family medicine or internal medicine residency.

ALUMNA / FACULTY HIGHLIGHT

Alumna exemplifies WVSOM mission

Jessica Smith-Kelly, D.O., Class of 2012, is a good role model of the type of graduate WVSOM aspires to educate.

The Class of 2012 graduate entered WVSOM as an out-of-state student, became a graduate teaching assistant in osteopathic principles and practice (OPP), secured a residency spot in primary care and has since returned to Lewisburg to practice medicine and teach WVSOM students.

"I knew that I wanted to teach osteopathic manipulation in a school setting, so when I was nearing the end of my residency I was applying for Plus One residency and they were getting ready to start one here. I found out that WVSOM was going to have an opening for OPP faculty. I thought, 'well that's kind of my dream job,' so I applied," Smith-Kelly said.

Her 10-year, long-term plan for herself was expedited once she completed her Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine/ Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine Plus One (NMM/OMM +1) residency at Greenbrier Valley Medical Center. Smith-Kelly has been a faculty member at WVSOM for a little more than a year. She said that her work as a graduate teaching assistant (GTA) in her third and fourth year of studies helped solidify the decision to eventually become a teacher.

"Before, I never thought I would want to teach," the internal medicine and osteopathic manipulative medicine physician said. "When I was a GTA I may not have been able to explain techniques well, but I could say 'put your hands here' and I could explain techniques through palpation and sensation. Seeing students finally get a concept and having that light bulb go off was very rewarding. It made me start to think that I really liked the teaching aspect."

"I've had students say to me, 'wow you just had a patient with high blood pressure and sinuses and you were able to do manipulation.' I think when people realize they can become proficient enough with their hands to be able to incorporate OMT in a practice they're more willing to use it and more willing to practice it," she said.

Whether Smith-Kelly is busy teaching osteopathic medical students or educating patients about techniques that can help reduce their pain, she is always using her hands as the main tool - proving that being a 10-fingered D.O. is exactly the type of physician who WVSOM hopes to graduate.