VCOM View Vol 9-1

VIRGINIA CAMPUS

The hard work that happens in the four years between student doctors’ first stepping on campus and receiving their osteopathic degree is formative for how they will practice medicine and interact with patients. But even before that, how can a student successfully prepare for admission into medical school? BY KYLIE RUDDER T o help some students before medical school even starts, VCOM now offers a 1-year Master of Arts in Biomedical Sciences (MABS) degree in partnership with Bluefield College. This new degree is a transition VCOM is making from its very successful graduate certificate program, which had been a post- baccalaureate program in prior years. Keeping with much the same approach to providing students with a strong base-knowledge in the human and biomedical sciences, this new program will leave students with a master’s degree upon completion. Evin Guilliams, DO, post-baccalaureate Class of 2013 and VCOM-Virginia Class of 2017, has nothing but high praise for his formative year before starting medical school. “The post-[baccalaureate] program gave me the edge in medical school so I was able to hit the ground running. It was the best transition from an undergraduate mindset and workload to the performance level required of a medical student,” said Dr. Guilliams.

winter 2018 | VCOM V iew M agazine 19