NSU’s Pre-Health advising center to open soon

Dev Gohel, fourth-year biology major, is one of 21 consultants at NSU’s new Pre-Health & Pre-Professional Advising Office. As a consultant, Gohel is mostly looking forward to getting to know fellow pre-health students.

“I feel like since we’re at a very similar point in our lives, that I can really be of service, and I would appreciate that,” Gohel said. “I have people who were like that for me when I was trying to get through my stuff.”

Located in room 317 of the Mailman Hollywood building, NSU is launching the Pre-Health & Pre-Professional Advising Office to help students get into competitive graduate programs.

Emilio Lorenzo, director of Student Success and Pre-Health Services, oversees the office.

“I’ve been with the university for over 11 years and in every role I’ve played, I’ve also supported the university by being the pre-health expert. But now there’s a big need because most universities have a pre-health office,” Lorenzo said. “This is something also that students have wanted for a long time. So SGA has done a number of different initiatives in hopes of an office like this coming to fruition. And so it’s been a long time coming for this office to be created.”

The office is open, but one-on-one advising will fully launch next month.

“Sixty-six to 70% of our undergraduate student population are on some sort of career track towards a healthcare career,” Lorenzo said. “So this office was launched to support predominantly pre-health students, but really any student who is on a long-term career track towards professional school.”

The pre-health office has several events scheduled to help students find a career path, including the Shark Path Panel + Networking event on Sept. 27 and the Pre-Health Day Conference on Oct. 18.

“We’re hosting a number of different events including pre-health conferences, webinars, workshops. We’re bringing current professionals in the field as guest speakers to help network with these students,” Lorenzo said. “We’re collaborating really closely with the CAPS office because they also do professional development and they work with employers. And so we’re working hand in hand together to do these types of events and programs.”

Starting Oct. 16, students can also take advantage of one-on-one advising with pre-health consultants, who are undergraduate students trained by the Pre-Health & Pre-Professional Advising office. When it becomes available, students can schedule appointments on Navigate, which can be accessed through SharkLink.

“[The office] will start taking one-on-one and dropping in appointments to give students guidance on their resume, how to find shadowing opportunities, how to find research opportunities, how to make the most of their undergraduate years so that when they graduate, they’re a competitive applicant for professional school,” Lorenzo said.

Diego Abad, senior biology major on the pre-dental track, is another consultant at the pre-health office. He is excited to see how the program expands in the coming weeks.

“As I’m leaving NSU, it’s one of those things that I hope I at least leave a mark on and a big impact,” Abad said. “Pre-Health advising, it’s going to be very important for students who are still confused and still don’t know what to do with their long goal careers or journey.”

Manas Peddiboyina, senior public health major, received pre-health advising from Lorenzo before. Peddiboyina expects to try advising again once appointments are open.

“It’s amazing because you get to kind of understand from somebody who already knows what’s going on with it, what to do and the steps to take,” Peddiboyina said.

“I would definitely go back and I would highly recommend other people do as well.”

For more information about the pre-health office, email prehealth@nova.edu.