STORY BY JESSALYN KIRCHHOFF
GRAPHIC BY HANNAH KITZMANN
According to their Tigerlink page, the American Medical Student Association (AMSA) Premedical Club has one main objective: “to help students gain skills, knowledge, and connections that could aid them on their road to medical school, PA school, Optometry school, and other pre-professional medicine-based schools.”
“We help guide students through the circus that is the path to medical school.” AMSA member Garret Rymer said.
AMSA Premed Club President Bailey Weber explains how the club accomplishes its goals of providing information and support to pre-pathway students in many different ways.
“We offer multiple volunteer opportunities, host an array of guest speakers, present career opportunities through conference experiences, and provide a place for students to receive general support from peers that could offer potential beneficial insight into the medical school application process as well as the course load required both in undergrad and in the future,” she said.
One of Weber’s most memorable moments as a part of the club was attending a conference.
“A few members of the club and I went to a conference out of town for the first time after I became president, and I was able to get to know each of the students in the club on a deeper level while doing activities and seminars that we were all genuinely interested in,” Weber said.
Rymer expands on how impactful any and all conference experiences are to Fort Hays State University students by recounting the Premed Club’s most recent trip to a conference in Wichita.
“It was a great networking event, which included the KU admissions board, and allowed all of us in the club to become closer to each other,” he said.
Looking forward to next semester, Weber said the club aims to continue to bring in physicians and healthcare professionals as well as medical students and guest speakers.
“We feel strongly that these pursuits allow for our members to cultivate those necessary career connections,” Weber said. “Connecting with these professionals gives our members helpful insight into the application process and how to juggle an academic career, social life, and everything else that life can throw at you while completing your undergraduate degree at FHSU.”
Weber continues to advocate for the benefits being involved in clubs, organizations, and associations provides for students at Fort Hays.
“Involvement provides an outlet that allows students to meet people that they might not meet outside of the campus,” she said. “Being involved as a student gives you the opportunity to make connections with people from all walks of life that you may run into later in the future after graduation.”
Rymer said being involved is essential to a student’s experience at a university as it allows a student to make connections by conventions they would not likely have come across in their degrees of study.
“Being involved has helped me better understand the process that runs communities outside of the realm of medicine,” Rymer said. “These communities that I became involved in might help me better understand future demographics of patients.”
There are no requirements to join the club, “other than having a screw loose,” Rymer said.
Weber emphasizes that while anyone who is interested in the PreMed Club can join and are always welcome, the club proves to be most advantageous to those in the Pre-Health pathway.
She said this is due to the connections that are available via guest speakers and conference experiences, as well as fellow students offering insight into information that they have learned while completing their own degrees and pathway.
As the end of the school year is coming to a close, the Premedical Club will be having its last meeting and end-of-year party at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday in Tomanek Hall, Room 108.
Weber extends an invitation to this event to current and potentially upcoming members.
“If you are planning on coming, you could always email me and I can give you any additional information that you might need,” she said.
Bailey Weber can be reached at her email blweber4@mail.fhsu.edu .
Other than that final meeting/celebration, the AMSA Premed Club will begin meetings next semester every other Thursday at the same time in the same room. (Tomanek 108 @ 5:00pm).
“Feel free to stop by any of our general meetings next year if you’re curious about medicine or any of the other postgraduate school programs,” Rymer said. “We’ve been trying to engage more students this year and would love to bring in more within the next few semesters.”
Additionally, to be notified of meetings, students are welcome to email the club at fhsupremedclub@gmail.com .
More information on the American Medical Student Association – Premedical Club can be found on their Tigerlink page at https://tigerlink.fhsu.edu/organization/amsapremedclub .