The Student Doctor Network (SDN) provides online resources to pre-health students and the health professional community as part of our nonprofit mission. Here’s a recap of our standout achievements in 2024, our 25th year.
SDN’s 25th Anniversary: Prehealth Scholarship
In celebration of our 25th anniversary, the newly established Student Doctor Network Prehealth Scholarship was launched. It is a $2,500 award to prehealth students committed to improving the health of their marginalized or underserved home community as a doctoral-level health professional. Candidates must submit a professional school application for the 2025-2026 application cycle for these health professional careers:
- Medicine (MD/DO)
- Dentistry (DMD/DDS)
- Optometry (OD)
- Pharmacy (PharmD)
- Podiatry (DPM)
- Psychology (PsyD/PhD)
- Veterinary Medicine (DVM/VMD)
- Rehabilitation Sciences
- Audiology/Speech Language Pathology (AuD/PhD)
- Occupational Therapy (OTD)
- Physical Therapy (DPT)
The award is designed to help students with the expenses associated with the application process.
To learn more, review the scholarship description and terms, and apply here.
Celebrating Mentors and Professionals
SDN has recognized Dr. Chloe Lash and Dr. James Wasco as our 2024 Advisors of the Year. Listen to their interviews for insights into being successful future health professionals! Also, heed the advice of our past advisors of the year (Wisdom from the 2023 Advisors of the Year, HPSA Student Advisory Council Announces 2022 Advisor of the Year Awardees).
Here are our other interviews with professionals:
- 20 Questions: Frank Douglas, PhD, MD, Neuroendocrinologist
- 20 Questions: William Jacobson, DMD, MPH
- 20 Questions: Jackée Clement, MD, Family Physician
- 20 Questions: Psychiatrist Jessi Gold, MD, MS
Resources for Future Applicants
On-Demand Advising
Over 200 on-demand advising appointments were scheduled. Schedule an appointment to have verified expert help with urgent issues you have during your application journey.
PrivateFolio Benefits SDN members and Becoming a Student Doctor enrollees
We are proud to partner with PrivateFolio, a non-profit dossier service that delivers letters of recommendation to graduate and professional programs. They have also worked with prehealth offices to send letter packets and institutional committee letters for student applicants. This benefit applies to all levels of SDN membership.
For those who need access to a convenient letter dossier service, SDN forums members can use a discount code to set up and deliver their portfolio of letters. This service can be used for summer programs, graduate study, or job/post-graduate applications. Additionally, scholarship enrollees in Becoming a Student Doctor may request access to a limited number of free accounts.
New Admissions Guide: Postbac and Special Masters Programs
Looking at your postbac options? We published a new Admissions Guide, “How to Choose a Postbaccalaureate or Special Masters Program (SMP).” Discuss specific options in our Postbaccalaureate Programs forum.
HPSA Surveys Reveal Insights into the Application Journey
We published our 2023 SJT Experience Survey and a Recorded Video Interview survey that gives insight into how the application process is changing with these new admissions tools. A survey on the 2024-2025 application experience launched in October, and we’re collecting responses to the fall survey until the end of December!
Preliminary results from our 2024 GenAI survey provide insights into how many students use AI in their classrooms and during the application process.
Stay Informed on Current Topics Affecting Healthcare
SDN Rounds, which posts automatically in the Topics in Health Care forum or via email summary, helps you stay informed about how health professions leaders think about current topics.
Treating Trans Patients remains a free Google Classroom module of “Becoming a Student Doctor.” Deepen your knowledge towards delivering equitable healthcare to the LBGTQ+ community as you begin your health professional journey!
Practice SJT and Interviewing Skills
Grounded in the data collected through our surveys, HPSA/SDN has developed an SJT Workshop for prehealth students to assess decision-making skills in situational judgment tests and interviews. We have set up virtual workshops with many organizations (like the Harvard World Prehealth Conference and MiMentor). You get the most from on-campus workshops, as we have at UC Davis, Miami University, the University of Cincinnati, and the University of Hawaii. Becoming a Student Doctor enrollees can also request virtual mock interview/SJT prep.
Measure your Competencies!
We have developed rubrics so you can measure your readiness to be a desirable applicant for the upcoming application cycle. Access and download the two rubrics!
Most Popular Articles
SDN publishes articles weekly. Here are some of the most popular articles from 2024:
- Finding Your Greatest Common Factors with Successful Students
- Don’t Look for Trouble: How Freshman Year Mistakes Could Doom Your Path to Medical School
- From Waitlist to Offer: Inside an Admissions Committee
- Ask the Expert: Fotinos S. Panagakos, Dean, Pacific Northwest University School of Dental Medicine
- Practical Lessons for the Parent in Medical School
- How Are You Using AI? Generative AI Survey Results
- How to Engineer a Health Professional Career
- The Meaning of Life: Finding Insights in the Humanities
- Practicing the Art of Reflection with a Prehealth Journal (or Podcast, or Online Blog)
- Applying Earlier? Health Professions Admissions through Early Assurance
- Emote Control: “Inside Out” for Prehealth and Professional Development
- Pursuing a Combined DVM/PhD Program: A Path to Research in Veterinary Medicine
- Q&A: Ryo Fujiwara, NEOMED Pipeline Programs
Don’t see something that interests you? Check out our extensive archive of articles to find information for your needs. Do you have an interesting perspective to share with the prehealth and health professional community? Submit an article to SDN!
Emil Chuck, Ph.D., is Director of Advising Services for the Health Professional Student Association. He brings over 15 years of experience as a health professions advisor and an admissions professional for medical, dental, and other health professions programs. In this role for HPSA, he looks forward to continuing to play a role for the next generation of diverse healthcare providers to gain confidence in themselves and to be successful members of the interprofessional healthcare community.
Previously, he served as Director of Admissions and Recruitment at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, Director of Admissions at the School of Dental Medicine at Case Western Reserve University, and as a Pre-Health Professions Advisor at George Mason University.
Dr. Chuck is an expert on admissions, has been quoted by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), and has volunteered as a workshop facilitator on holistic admissions for the American Dental Education Association (ADEA). He has also contributed to the essay collection The Perfect Doctor by Pager Publications and has developed competency-based rubrics supporting holistic review.
Laura Turner, MS, is the Executive Director of the Health Professional Student Association (HPSA), which publishes the Student Doctor Network (SDN). Prior to working with HPSA, she served for eight years as the Executive Director of SDN. At HPSA and SDN, Laura has been instrumental in providing students with tools and resources to pursue their aspirations in healthcare. Her previous roles include business analyst positions at The Capital Group and product management and marketing roles at software companies Paciolan, Adexa, and MSC Software.
In her current role at HPSA, Laura continues to drive innovation and forge partnerships to better support aspiring healthcare professionals. She is grateful for the opportunity to help countless individuals to achieve their dreams.