Tailyn is in her 7th academic year at ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú University. She started as our Lead Pre-Health Advisor in July of 2018, and was promoted to Assistant Director in January of 2020. Throughout her time here, she has focused on creating programming, including Health Careers Week, collaborating with a variety of offices and departments, improving the PMD curriculum, and developing relationships with all pre-health students. She is currently working full time to serve our students, while completing her PhD in Educational ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉúhip, Culture, and Curriculum.
The summer is always a quiet time around campus, but there is still plenty to work on. Every year we have more than 300 students who apply to healthcare professional programs, many who reach out for assistance writing application essays and preparing for interviews. It’s always a fulfilling experience reading the stories that have brought my students to this point, getting to learn more about them on a deeper level so I can give them more individualized advice, and receiving that excited email letting me know that they received an acceptance. At the end of June I attended the National Association of Advisors for Health Professions (NAAHP) national conference in our own back door in Cincinnati. This organization has been around for 50 years uniting pre-health advisors and admissions teams from around the country, and provides us with resources and ideas to improve the services we provide to our students.
When I first started in this role I considered it a stepping stone to whatever would eventually come next, but the previous 6 years have been an exciting adventure I never could have predicted. This past year we welcomed our first student intern as well as 400 new pre-health students, hosted a variety of events focusing on professional development, community service, and advances in healthcare, provided Stop the Bleed training for 120 students, and said goodbye to the class of 2024. As I mentioned in our previous newsletter, “time flies by so slowly”. In the hustle and bustle of the year, it can seem like the semester will never end, but looking back, it was full of wonderful memories that seemed to pass by so quickly.
With the upcoming academic year, I’m excited to welcome a new intern who will be with us for the next two years. Natalie Hicov is a rising junior biochemistry major who will be applying to medical school in the 2026 application cycle, and she’s already done so much to help me continue the improvement of our PMD courses. Additionally, thanks to Dr. William McIntyre, we will finally be able to welcome a second advisor hopefully starting in the spring 2025 semester. I have wonderful students who understand how busy I can get during certain times of the year, but there are a variety of projects Dr. Carlin and I have discussed that we will finally be able to focus on with this additional help. I look forward to updating you on some of these in the near future, but for now, I hope you have a wonderful ending to your summer, and I appreciate the support you continue to provide to our students and the Mallory-Wilson Center!