Student Analysis

Although at Western Illinois University pre-medical students typically major in Biological Sciences, there is no one set major that students seeking to pursue a career in medicine must have. Taking that into consideration, the target population would be all students (undergraduate or graduate) that are interested in pursuing a career as a physician. There isn't much insight and research available on the pre-medical experience so it would be imperative to create a workshop that does not uphold pre-medical stereotypes but instead present resources that would enhance the pre-medical experience, and the medical application process by extension, creating more prepared and well-rounded future physicians (Lin et al, 2013). Interacting with medical students and physicians, as well as having a workbook that students can take home with them, will sustain student motivation. The majority, if not all, of the pre-medical students that attend the workshop would already be aware of the MCAT exam and would likely already come prepared to discuss their experience thus far and will be ready to get study strategies and learn about test preparation resources that they may not have been aware of before.

Pre-medical students would be motivated to attend the student success workshop because they would want to learn new skills and get information on resources that they may not have had much knowledge about before; especially the "non-traditional" pre-medical student population. Students may also be motivated to attend to the workshop to hear the first-hand experiences of current medical students and physicians and begin to strengthen their networking and professional development skills (Salek, 2021).