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In addition to advising students, the office provides a variety of services to students including maintaining files and forwarding letters of evaluation, supplying application materials for exams and professional schools, coordinating workshops and various events, and generating a monthly newsletter of events and deadlines. Registration Forms A file is opened when students complete the initial registration form. This must be done at the office on Busch Campus – we want to meet you. Students will receive additional forms and other information to update and complete their file in subsequent years. Once a student is registered with the HPO, his/her transcript will be received from the Registrar after each semester. In addition, the registered student will receive the HP Newsletter several times a semester and other communications of importance. Letters of Evaluation Students are required to obtain a minimum of five or six letters of evaluation. At least three letters must be from faculty with two of them from science instructors (one letter must be from a member of the student's major department; in addition, it is strongly suggested that one of these be in biology). Additional letters may come from employers and supervisors, particularly if the work was in research or a medically related area. Students are required to have an evaluation submitted by their research advisor. References from friends of the family such as personal physicians or neighbors have little value. Whenever possible, letters of evaluation should be solicited from professors rather than teaching assistants. While full faculty members are the best, teaching assistant letters are acceptable in some cases. However, a file consisting solely of letters from teaching assistants will have less credibility with medical school admissions committees. Employers, volunteer service supervisors, or others who can accurately evaluate a candidate may also be solicited for recommendations using the same forms. It is best to have several faculty recommendations since they judge students on their academic merit. Those references of the greatest value to students are written by faculty to whom the student is known. To improve the types of letters that come into the office, students should solicit letters of evaluation from faculty members with whom they have established a good rapport and in whose class they did well. Speak with your faculty early in a semester, see him/her often so that they know who you are, and provide them with a brief resume to help them write about you. Feel free to ask if they can write a positive statement. If they cannot, then you should thank them for their time and seek out someone else. Students should ensure that the recommender understands clearly the purpose of the letter. A letter that specifies dental, graduate, or a specific school or program (such as summer research programs) should not be sent to medical schools. Students who are undecided at the time they solicit recommendations should explain this to the evaluator so that he/she may either choose to write a general letter which refers to the health-care field or to write several letters. Students should inform the staff of the fact that some letters of evaluation may contain references to specific types of schools (i.e., medical and dental). This office provides forms and envelopes for students to submit to evaluators. It is important that the student complete the front portion of the evaluation form. The evaluator needs to know whether or not the privacy rights waiver which appears on the front of the form has been signed (see next section). In addition, complete information will greatly facilitate handling by this office. Letters sent to the HPO are used solely for the purpose of supplementing a student's application to a health professional school, a medically related program (as implied on the form itself), or a graduate program. They will not be used for any other purpose. Waivers The Family Educational rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (The Buckley amendment) ensures students of the right to see their letters of evaluation. By signing the privacy rights waiver, students are relinquishing their right to see these letters. Many evaluators feel more comfortable about writing letters that students will not see, and professional schools prefer confidentiality. It is indicated at the beginning of every health professions packet whether or not the privacy rights waiver form has been signed. All students must sign the Dean of Students Waiver if they plan to request a Health Professions Committee interview. Once the student signs this waiver, the Dean of Students can disclose to this office whether there is or has been any disciplinary action taken against an individual. The Health Professions Interview In addition to general advising appointments which can be scheduled at any time, interviews are granted to academically qualified students. For most students this will be the spring of their Junior year or summer after their Junior year. For information about the interview and the requirements, please click here.
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