File - Pilipinos for Community Health at UCLA

Welcome to Pilipinos for Community Health’s very own amazing newsletter! Come read about and explore interesting facts and
tips to help you in your path as an pre-health undergraduate student!
PCH Pre-Health Newsletter
[5/1/12]
Issue 1, Spring Quarter, Week 5
Summer Research?!
How can I find one?
No plans for the summer yet? If
you are a on pre-health route, it is
advisable to never have a boring
summer during your undergraduate
career! By: Pamela Vila
It is better to be involved in volunteering, summer school, or maybe even research. A question
that comes up from a lot of undergraduates is "How do I find a lab that I can research in?"
There are many fields of research, some involving going out to the community and conducting
surveys to doing benchwork inside of a lab facility. Many times, we do not know yet what we
are interested in it so it's okay to try your hand at different
areas of research. The first step
is to find a faculty advisor to
work with. On the next page are
some tips to look into.
Continue to…
What to
expect:
Read on for more interesting facts
about the Pilipino community in the
health field, like MCAT statistics and
more!
Steps to Finding a Research Opportunity this
Summer (or if not this summer, during the new
school year):
1) Do some research on potential departments you might
see yourself doing research in, and then picking 2-3 people
from their faculty list. UCLA usually has website for their
departments and an information page about each of their
faculty and what they are currently involved in. If something
interests you, do further research. Read their papers, and be
prepared before sending them that first email.
2) Contact them. This is probably the most tedious part, but the
best advice is not to use the same run-of-the-mill template with each professor you email. They can tell! Just
be honest, say that you are interested in starting research and you came across their lab and really would love
to be part of the team. Tell them you are dedicated and really eager to learn. Do not make your email TOO
long or else they will avoid reading it, most likely. Keep it short and simple, possibly in the end asking
something simple, so they understand exactly what you need from them, such as "Does your lab have room
for another undergrad?"
3) Two things may happen. They might not even reply. Don't feel too bad, some professors
have way too many undergrads asking them to research and
not enough room or time to respond to all of them. Some
faculty are nice enough to reply and might even tell you to
contact them next quarter. Save that information in case
you do need it. What you want is an email back saying they
do have room and what are your availabilities to meet.
Reply ASAP, be punctual, do previous research on their
work, and understand that you might not understand
everything. That is okay. In fact, researchers love when you
ask them questions so save that for the interview. That lets
them know you are interested in learning.
And
finally….
You'll be researching in no time as long as you keep
consistent and stay true to yourself. You want to avoid
working in a lab you absolutely hate and stay there for
a short time. That is no benefit to you, or your resume.
Happy researchin'!
2
“Likely to Face Physician
Shortage in 2015”
DID YOU KNOW…?
1.
A Pilipino doctor named Abelardo Aguilar
co-discovered the antibiotic Erythromycin,
which has an antimicrobial spectrum close
to that of penicillin and is often used as an
alternative for that drug.
In 1952, the product was
given the commercial brand
name of Ilosone, named
after the Philippine region of
Iloilo where the sample was
first collected. In fact, before
it was called Erythromycin,
it was called Ilotycin.
Source: filipinoachievers.wordpress.com/2010/06/24/abelardo-aguilarfilipino-scientist-discovered-erythromycin/
2.
Pilipino Antonio Miranda Rodriguez was one
of the first settlers of Los Angeles, California
in 1781, along with 43 Latinos from Mexico
sent by the Spanish government.
He was born in
Manila and had
the features of a
Malayan Pilipino.
Due to his
daughter's health
complications, he
stayed in Loreto, Baja California; ultimately, however,
because of this, his settler's allotment had already been
given to another. To this day, many still dispute that he
may have never even reached Los Angeles at all, but
historical evidence say otherwise.
Source: http://personal.anderson.ucla.edu/eloisa.borah/Miranda.pdf
3.
Pilipina doctor Eleanor "Connie" Conception
Mariano was the personal physician of former
United States President William "Bill" Clinton.
From the Association of American Medical College's (AAMC) Recent
Studies/Reports on the Inadequacy of the U.S. Physician Supply, CA (2009):
The California HealthCare Foundation, in a 2009 report, states
that the overall supply of physicians in the state is lower than earlier
estimates. Rural counties have fewer physicians per capita than their
urban counterparts and also face the additional burden of an aging
physician workforce coupled with difficulty recruiting younger
replacements. Moreover, the state has a diminishing supply of
primary care physicians but an abundance of specialists. For example,
only 34% of active physician reported practicing primary care and
only 16 of Californiaʼs 58 counties are within the range of 60-80
primary care physicians per 100,000 population and in 8 counties the
number is less than half the recommended amount. Of all active
physicians in the state 67% reported being non-primary care
physicians and the number of specialists per 100,000 is 115 in
California, well above the target range of 85-105.
The University of California Office of Health Affairs and
University of California Health Sciences Committee commissioned a
report on Californiaʼs physician workforce conducted by the
University of Albany's Center for Health Workforce Studies. The
population of California is growing rapidly which will place great
strains on the healthcare delivery system and the physician workforce.
More than one-fourth of the state's practicing physicians were over age
55 in 2000. In addition, the state has a mal-distribution of physicians
with 60% of the current physicians practicing in only five counties. In
partial response to this report, in 2006, the California Board of
Regents approved the establishment of a new medical school at the
University of California at Riverside.
Some questions to reflect on:
What is the effect of this on the communities we come from?
How about the Pilipino community, those that we already service in health
fairs, hypertension sites, etc.?
Medical School… MCATs ?! GPA ?!
From the AAMC, the average MCAT score was 25.1 with a
standard deviation of 6.4 for last year 2011. Where do you stand? Of
course, these statistics are aggregated so it is highly encouraged that
you look at the specific averages for your school of choice.
Good places to start are aamc.org or
http://www.washington.edu/uaa/advising/downloads/gpamcat.pdf.
More below!
This former director
of the White House
Medical Unit also
happens to be the
youngest Captain in
the US Navy during
her time.
Source: http://www.whitehousedoctor.com/
How many of you were aware of the contributions of
these Pilipinos?
Now the question is…what will be yours?
3
MCAT and GPA Grid for Asian Applicants!
So while you may not have that high GPA, you can compliment it with a high
MCAT score. It can go vice versa as well. Ultimately, this grid is not to
discourage or intimidate you in applying, but give you better idea of your chances
with a given GPA and MCAT score (i.e. if you have 3.2 GPA and 30 MCAT
score, which do not seem “competitive,” you still have around a 30% chance of
getting into a medical school.)
Lastly, interesting tidbit/thing to consider. From a book Asians in the Ivory
Tower, when we break up the Asian category to the different countries and look at
college attainment, we see that only 10.8% of Pilipinos get an advanced degree
(masters, doctorate, etc.).
We know this issue is kind of premed heavy, we will try to incorporate
other pre-health paths in our next issue! So please if you have any
questions, comments or suggestions for improvement, please let us
know at [email protected]
Thank you for reading!
Respectfully, your Pre-Health Advising
and Mentorship Coordinators
Anthony Arce and Pamela Vila