by Kirsten Brown

Around this time of year, medical school looms as a daunting prospect to premed students finishing their undergraduate schooling. For some premed students about to drop the “pre” portion of their title, anxiety abounds over unfamiliar territory and complicated admissions procedures.

PreCOM Day is one answer to their worries.

The Office of Student Affairs and the Office of Admissions have put together a new experience called PreCOM, an OU-COM version of the university’s Pre-College Orientation. This orientation day helps potential students and their families acclimate to OU-COM and the Athens community, says Jill Harman, associate director of admissions.

The event includes a spectrum of preparatory activities for students and their families. The event officially commences 9 a.m. with the dean’s welcome, but a continental breakfast and check-in begins at 8 a.m.

Although soon-to-be med students are strongly urged to attend the March 4 event, those who cannot attend may attend a second PreCOM day on May 20.

“This is for people who either couldn’t make it or didn’t have chance to be invited,” Harman says. “We’ll still be admitting new students past the first PreCOM date, of course, so they’ll be invited to the May 20 event. But we’re trying to get as many students as possible to attend the March 4 date because of some important financial aid deadlines we have coming up.”

Of course, no orientation would be complete without ice breakers.

“There will be some activities to help the new students bond as a class,” Harman says. “They’ll get to know each other a little bit and get a feel for the curricula.”

As another portion of the event, the future doctors will receive information on required immunizations, tuberculosis screenings and blood titers. Detailed discussions will also be held on topics ranging from the school’s basic life support requirements to the annual White Coat Ceremony.

A relaxing lunch will provide an interlude for students and their families, spouses and significant others. While lunching, new students will also be introduced to their respective COMrades, who are second-year students assigned to help them adjust to medical school life.

Another part of the day is devoted to giving students their new Oak ids as well as to helping them get accustomed to the school’s network. In the Learning Resource Center, future students are trained to log onto the network and how to use OU-COM’s Blackboard.

While students familiarize themselves with the technological aspects of medical school, their families and significant others will attend an informal question-and-answer session with those who’ve already experienced life with a mate in medical school.

“Participants will be talking about what it will be like for families now that the student is in medical school,” Harman says. “They’ll discuss what parents, spouses and significant others can expect and how to handle the limited amounts of time their future doctors will have available.”

Then, students and families reunite to finish the day around 3:30 p.m., after a talk about financial aid and an information fair.

“We’ll wrap the day up and talk about housing in the area, banking and becoming a part of the Athens community,” Harman says. “They’ll also get a chance to buy OU-COM gear.”

The collaborative effort between student affairs and admissions was brought about by a need for a solid introduction to medical school before the freshmen begin the immersion program in August.

“Many students need to know what’s behind the osteopathic approach when they first arrive here, but others also come in without any exposure to gross anatomy,” Harman explains. “Immersion meets those needs with four days of gross anatomy coupled with an intense day of OMM.”

With the experiences offered by immersion and PreCOM, first year students will be fully equipped for their fall studies, Harman says.

“We’re getting them off on the right foot early on, so that when they get here in August, all they have to do is concentrate on learning.”

Overall, the speakers and administrators behind PreCOM hope to make attendees feel comfortable and welcome at their new campus.

“It’s mainly a chance for everyone to get another look at the school and for their families to come in,” Harman says. “Hopefully, it will also encourage any undecided students to matriculate to our school in August.”