First Aid for Pre-Health Fairs: 5 tips on how to make the most of them.

It is time to register for the 2019 AAMC Virtual Medical School Fair. taking place on Thursday, February 21st from 11 am-8 pm. What is better than a health fair that is FREE and doesn't require you to leave the house?

Pre-health fairs are a popular way for prospective students to have one on one contact with a wide variety of health-related graduate schools, deans of admission, admission officers, financial aid officers, faculty, and staff. Instead of traveling to multiple campuses, making numerous phone calls, or writing emails you can speak to many programs all in one shot. One of the most attended fairs is the UC Davis Pre-Health Fair with up to 9,000 attendees. The AAMC has links to several additional pre-health fairs and most career offices will have their own pre-health fairs on campus.

For freshman and sophomore undergraduate students pre-health fairs are a way to get the lay of the land and make decisions about what type of graduate program they want to pursue.

For juniors and seniors who are beginning to prepare their applications, they are an opportunity to ask specific questions about their candidacy and investigate unique or new programs.

Most of these fairs include lectures and panel discussions about different health care careers and strategies for applying. If you can’t attend the fair these helpful presentations are often made available online as well.

When you first enter the room full of tables and giveaways it can become quickly overwhelming. Sometimes the whole event just ends up being about getting to the table with the best giveaway – then when you get home you find you have lots of pens, stuffed microbes, and keychains but no additional knowledge about what you want to do or what programs you like. Don’t let the toys sway you!

These are the 3 steps to strategize and make the most of a pre-health fair virtually or in person.

1) Get a lay of the land. Review in advance what schools will be there and get a map of the room outlining where each of their tables will be located. Most conferences will provide a map of tables a few days to a few weeks ahead of time. Strategize which tables you will visit based on your interests, what region you plan to apply in, and questions you might have about particular programs.

2) Look up the programs ahead of time. Be familiar with the information that is already available on their websites. You will be speaking with representatives from the admissions office and admissions committees. You do not want to monopolize their time asking questions about the readily available information. On that note, you don’t want to monopolize their time at all! There are often hundreds if not thousands of participants at some of these fairs.

3) Prepare specific, quick questions you want to ask in advance; if you find you have been talking for more than 10 minutes or the representative seems to be staring off into space or scanning the room, or there is a line of people behind you, you’ve overstayed your welcome. If you still need more elaboration you can always take a business card and follow up by email with specific personal questions. Ask questions about unique offerings, the curricula, and what they look for in candidates?

For example, many schools are now offering new or innovative primary care tracks or 3 year programs and this is a great time for them to tell you more about them. You can also use the opportunity to ask about how to approach a particular mishap you might have in your application – it may be a prerequisite you did not meet or a unique feature of your application.

4) Take notes. Don’t forget to take notes, you may think you will remember, but I guarantee that after a full day of questions and answers you may not.

5) Be professional and courteous. Lastly, although you may feel like a pre-health fair is a fairly anonymous forum and the representatives will not remember you, this is not the time to act unprofessionally. You’d be amazed at what people DO remember, and they will almost always remember unprofessional behavior. Dress neatly or in casual business attire. Do not be argumentative. Don’t be negative or cynical. Don’t criticize their program or other programs. The cost for you to travel to each of these schools would be prohibitive and they have come to you.

Remember to be kind, friendly, and respectful. Don’t just grab the handouts and run. Engage and learn. If you really want that spinal cord keychain or stuffed microbe, skip the fair, I have several I can send you. If you do skip the pre-health fair and want to speak to someone who has attended many pre-health fairs feel free to contact me for advice.