Students with an interest in medicine are inspired by guest speakers and hands-on opportunities during pre-med club meetings held on the second Monday of each month in the community room.

Juniors Madeline Mehler and Amy Zhou and senior Veronica Schwartz, who are the student leaders of the club, bring in speakers from all specialties in the medical field.

“Pre-med club is for high schoolers who have an interest in the medical field, whether that be something like nursing to more of your standard physician,” Zhou said. “It’s an opportunity for students to volunteer at places like MedWish and listen every month to guest speakers who speak about their occupation.”

Anyone with an interest in medicine is welcome to attend.

“Our club is just really welcoming towards all students who express interest [in the medical field],” Zhou said. “Students don’t even have to be sure if pre-med is what they want to do, but everyone is welcome to join our meetings.”

“We bring in speakers from all different areas and medical specialties,” Mehler said. “They come and speak to students about their career, about how they got there and their education.”

For example, last year the club brought in Hilltop Elementary School’s Nurse, Kelly Debeljak and Cleveland Clinic Doctors Joshua Miller, Blanca Gonzalez and Steven Hirschfeld.

“There are no competitions in the PreMed club,” Zhou said. “This year [the club does] want to put more of an emphasis on volunteering. There have been some conversations about collaborating with other schools’ pre-med clubs to maybe have a larger volunteer opportunity or fundraiser. That’s still in the books though, we’re not for sure.”

The club is also looking to bring in specialists to present demonstrations. Last year they brought in Dr. Tony Daher, an emergency medicine physician at Ahuja, who brought pigs feet and taught students how to give sutures on them. 

“It was really fun and interactive and I want more activities like that for our club,” Schwartz wrote in an email.

Zhou is also excited for an upcoming event in December or January where Lina Mehta, Case Western Reserve University Radiology Professor and Associate Dean for Admissions in the Office of Admissions for the School Of Medicine, will come speak with students in the club.

Mehler says the club has grown over the past few years.

“I’d say as new classes come in, we definitely bring more members, especially with the club fairs,” she said. “It definitely helps us get more people to be aware of the club.”

“We’ve tried to implement more of what our club members want to see by giving out surveys that ask what they’re interested in and if they know anyone in that profession,” Schwartz wrote. “I think that when our speakers [have been]  more representative of what our members wanted, we had more people come to the meetings.”

In addition to the guest speakers and volunteer opportunities, the club also hosts a supply drive every year. 

“[The drive] has been successful in the past,” Schwartz wrote. “And every year we get more and more donations.”