Advising
Future Physicians
SPU achieves
a 100 percent
medical school
acceptance
rate in 2006
As Cynthia Fitch watched her young
son’s soccer match from the sidelines
recently, she pulled out a note
card covered with her students’
names and phone numbers. Although far
from the Seattle Pacific University campus,
the associate professor of biology and coordinator
of the pre-professional health sciences
program (PPHS) reached for her cell phone.
After all, she says, “I needed to check in on my
premeds and predentals.”
“Advising is one of my favorite
things,” says Cynthia Fitch,
SPU associate professor
of biology, who offers classes
to demystify the four-year
premed process. “We really
believe that what we
do is help students
find their calling.”
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In 2006, that dedication paid off for Seattle
Pacific students — in a big way. The University
enjoyed a 97 percent acceptance rate for
students entering health care graduate programs,
and an impressive 100 percent acceptance
rate for the 14 SPU premed students.
Only about 50 percent of premed college
graduates nationwide are accepted into med-ical
schools, according to the American Assoc-iation
of Medical Colleges. Dental, veter-inary,
and other health programs follow suit.
Each year over the past decades, more than 90 percent of Seattle Pacific’s PPHS students
have been accepted into medical, dental, and
other health professional schools. That success
is largely due to the careful advising they
receive beginning in their freshman year —
from Professor of Biology Ken Moore during
the 1980s and 1990s, and now from Fitch.
“We believe that we’re helping students
find their calling,” she says. Adds Moore: “It’s
foolish for students with a desire to go to med
school to attend a university that does not
have the commitment to help them.”
SPU senior biology major Caroline Teel
always knew she wanted to be a dentist like
her father, Douglas Teel ’73. Since her freshman
year, she followed Fitch’s and Moore’s
advice, applying herself and excelling in
demanding science courses and researching
dental schools. When she met a premed student
from a prestigious California state university
last summer, Teel discovered just how
unique her advising situation was. “This student
didn’t feel as shepherded,” says Teel.
That “shepherding” continues throughout a
student’s time at Seattle Pacific. And one component
of the process gives new meaning to
the phrase “it takes a village.” More than 20
SPU professors from all disciplines volunteer
to be part of four-member advisory committees
that interview PPHS students individually,
an experience that prepares them for the
entrance interviews given by the schools
to which they apply. A successful interview
with Seattle Pacific faculty leads to a letter
of recommendation students include with
their application.
Since the new Science Building opened in
Autumn 2003, SPU’s PPHS program has
become even more popular. To meet the
growing demand, Fitch now offers three
courses, from freshman- to senior-level, to
help students navigate the demanding fouryear
PPHS process. How did incoming freshmen
respond? “I had 163 students registered
when Autumn Quarter began,” she says.
— by Hope McPherson (hmcpherson@spu.edu)
— photo by richard brown
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