Physician Mentoring Program

The Harvard Pre-Medical Society (HPS) Mentoring Program was established in 2007 to address the unique need for career exploration opportunities for Harvard pre-medical undergraduates. Up to that point, no formal process existed at Harvard College to provide students with the clinical exposure necessary for a proper assessment of medicine as a potential career option.

One of the goals of HPS is to provide students who are considering careers in health and medicine with career exploration opportunities in order to understand what becoming a doctor truly means and entails. We aim to provide pre-medical students with opportunities that will allow them to provide an honest answer as to why they would like to enter the medical profession. What is it like to work in a hospital or other clinical setting? After getting an MD, then what? What are the possible post-medical school paths that one can consider?

In order to help students find answers to questions like these, HPS has developed a holistic mentoring program that will match students with doctors in the Cambridge, Boston and Longwood areas.  In general, students meet with their mentors on a bimonthly basis and/or shadow their mentor for one day during the semester to observe what the everyday experience of being a doctor is like. Students will have the opportunity to ask questions about the physicians' fields of interest and to discover what paths their mentors took to get to where they are today.

The Harvard Pre-Medical Society seeks to expand undergraduate opportunities to experience clinical exposure and mentoring throughout the community.  Doing so helps undergraduates explore the dynamic field of medicine and better determine whether this exciting career path is right for them.

FOR STUDENTS
The application period for the 2011-2012 school year is now closed.

Hospital Volunteering Program (HVP)

The Harvard Pre-Medical Society Hospital Volunteer Program gives Harvard premeds and any interested student the opportunity to volunteer at one of three Cambridge Health Alliance locations in Cambridge, Sommerville, and Widden. The Cambridge campus is within walking distance of Harvard, just down Cambridge street. In addition, the CHA provides a free shuttle between the Cambridge and Sommerville locations. There are several different opportunities available for volunteers and the time commitment is flexible. The Cambridge Health Alliance provides volunteer training and orientation, after which you can start right away. This is a wonderful, hands-on experience for students, those who are considering a medical career want to experience the hospital setting to see if it is right for them and, also, those who are passionate about medicine and would enjoy spending more time with patients. Students must be willing to commit to volunteering for the entire year and a minimum of just 3 hours per week.

First-Year Premed Peer Advising Program (PPP)

The mission of the First-Year Premed Peer-Advising Program (PPP) is to provide a strong advising network for freshmen students interested in medical careers and to facilitate mentoring experiences with Harvard upperclassmen before students enter the House advising system. Advisees will gain incredible insight about course selection, choosing a concentration, research and clinical opportunities, MCAT preparation, and much more. The PPP also gives upperclassmen a valuable opportunity to share their practical wisdom on what it means to be premed at Harvard and to serve as an integral pre-medical resource for freshman students. 

Through monthly meetings conducted over dinner and in conjunction with HPS events as well as program-wide gatherings each semester, it is our hope that PPP pairs will form lasting mentoring relationships, establish strong advising connections, and encourage a mutual support network for pre-medical students on campus. 

Get Involved! Current freshmen, sophomores, and juniors are eligible to become Premed Advisors and are expected to meet with their Advisees once or twice each month in addition to attending HPS-sponsored PPP events. (HPS’ “Day in the Life of a Physician” dinners each month are excellent meeting venues).  Advisors will be chosen based on their application and interview with members of the HPS executive board who will then match selected students with advisees based on common interests, experiences, and goals in medicine. Advisors will also attend a short orientation before meeting with their advisees.  

Because PPP hopes to foster consistent and long-term relationships among its participants, we ask that you apply only if you are seriously committed to being an Advisor or Advisee. We sincerely hope that you will decide to join the Premed Peer-Advising Program for an experience that promises to be both meaningful and rewarding!