2024 SLS FINAL EXAM WITH
CORRECT ANSWERS
The 7 Factors of Admission - CORRECT ANSWERS-- National Entrance Exam
- Grade Point Average (GPA)
- Community Service
- Leadership/Teamwork
- Shadowing a provider
- Clinical Experience
- Research
** admission committees are expecting 150 hours in each category where
time is a factor
National Entrance Exam - CORRECT ANSWERS-- a standardized exam that all
applicants take and assesses key domains of knowledge
- these exams include MCAT, DAT, OAT, and GRE
what is the median score for the PCAT? - CORRECT ANSWERS-The store
range for the written component of the PCAT is 1-6 and the remaining topics
tested have a cumulative score ranging from 200 to 600. The median PCAT
score is a 400.
pharmacy school - CORRECT ANSWERS-requires four years of study, which
ultimately results in a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree.
Throughout pharmacy school, students will learn about the chemistry,
biology, and more when it comes to drug therapy.
Some examples of courses that will be taken are medicinal chemistry,
pharmacokinetics, toxicology, pharmacogenetics, and pharmaceutics.
With the first two years covering the basic sciences component of pharmacy,
the second two years will focus primarily on clinical experience.
Throughout their third and fourth year, pharmacy students will rotate
throughout various clinical settings, such as hospital pharmacy practice,
geriatrics pharmacy practice, and more.
is a bachelor degree required for pharmacy programs? - CORRECT ANSWERS-
While a bachelor's degree is not required before matriculating into pharmacy
school, it is highly recommended.
,is a residency required for pharmacy students? - CORRECT ANSWERS-a
residency can be done but is not required to practice.
These residencies are typically 1-2 years in duration.
Some residency options for pharmacists include pediatrics, ambulatory care,
oncology, organ transplant and geriatrics.
GPA - CORRECT ANSWERS-- admissions committees look at your overall GPA
as well as your science/BCPM GPA
- BCPM means biology, chemistry, physics, and math
- while all coursework is important and consistently strong course
performance is expected overall, BCPM courses are considered highly
predictive of success in professional medical programs
Community Service - CORRECT ANSWERS-- medical providers are not just
experts in the diagnostic arts of their discipline
- they are people the community looks for help on troubling and confusing
topics
- to that end, community service is important
- you are expected to achieve a strong record of community service before
you apply to your program
- these hours do not have to be related to your field of interest and can be a
great way yo show your personal interests to the admission committees
- the key with this is consistency in your service
Leadership/Teamwork - CORRECT ANSWERS-- healthcare providers are
expected to demonstrate dualities associated with leadership and being a
good team player
- demonstrating these characteristics in a formal manner is critical to
showcasing your potential to admission committees
- serving as a teaching assistant, leadership roles in student organizations,
and employment are all examples that fulfill this factor
shadowing a provider - CORRECT ANSWERS-- to be a provider in a selected
medical career, you should have a thorough of what that provider does in
their day-to-day work
- to achieve such a level of understanding, you should follow a practicing
provider of your chosen field - a process called shadowing
- it is important that you must shadow a practitioner of the profession you
are applying (ex: pre-medical students should be shadowing an MD or DO)
- it is suggested to shadow 3 different practitioners in your chosen profession
for ~50 hours each
,clinical experience - CORRECT ANSWERS-- there is no substitute for the
experience of providing care to actual patients
- clinical experience helps you appreciate the psychosocial aspects of being
in a medical career
- depending on the profession you are interested in, your clinical experience
will most likely be different than students applying to a different profession
since each profession has its own unique requirements
- with that in mind, it is suggested that pre-medical students should aim to
volunteer both in the hospital setting and at a free clinic
- if you need to work during your undergraduate years, scribing is a great
way to gain clinical experience while getting paid
- pre-dental students can work in a dentist's office, pre-pharmacy students
can work as a pharmacy tech, etc.
- positions like phlebotomist, medical assistant, and EMT fall into this
category of clinical experience as well
research - CORRECT ANSWERS-- research is the process of generating new
knowledge for a given field through formal, strategic inquiry
- research is not required by all of the careers discussed in this career but it
is expected of students who hope to gain admission to an allopathic (MD)
medical school
- research is not washing the dishes in a wet lab
- the golden standard for research is having a publication
- aim to have a poster presentation (or full journal article!) to prove
admissions committees that you were actively involved in the research
process
mythical majors - CORRECT ANSWERS-descriptors such as pre-medical, pre-
dental, pre-optometry, pre-veterinary, pre-ANYTHING are not majors at this
university
UCF does not award degrees in any of the above
the aspiring pre-professional student is expected to declare a major within
one of the degree granting departments of this university
therefore, terms such as pre-medical or pre-veterinary are simply descriptive
labels
actual major - CORRECT ANSWERS-you may elect any major described in the
UCF catalog
these include such varied pursuits as computer science, communications,
electrical engineering, liberal studies, etc.
, traditional majors - CORRECT ANSWERS-traditional majors of pre-professional
students are characterized by degree requirements which overlap
professional school minimal admission requirements
chemistry, biology, and molecular biology, and microbiology are the majors
most often selected at UCF
however, others such as physics and psychology are occasionally chosen
non-traditional majors - CORRECT ANSWERS-majors such as English,
philosophy, music, engineering, etc., have the disadvantage of not
overlapping with minimal admission requirements
if you elect a non-traditional pathway and do not complete more than the
minimum science requirements, you will be expected to have accomplished
an outstanding performance record in the science classes you did take
(biology, chemistry, physics, and math)
when you meet the requirements for one of these non-traditional degrees,
then add the professional school entrance requirements in biology,
chemistry, physics, and mathematics, you find that it may take an extra year
of undergraduate study
otherwise, it would be essential to enroll in very heavy credit hour per term
loads throughout the four years of pre-professional preparation
variables of admission - CORRECT ANSWERS-can be
non-quantitative/qualitative or quantitative
non-quantitative/qualitative variables of admission - CORRECT ANSWERS-
these variables look at the personal characteristics that define you but tat
can't be measured on an easy-to-calculate scale
- how independent is the candidate?
- what is their energy level?
- do they have an appropriate sense of humor that matches our program and
profession's culture?
- how do they manage and deal with uncertainty?
- what is their motivation for pursuing this career?
- do they share and communicate about fun and diverse interests that make
them an interesting person we would want to see in our program or
profession?
- do they demonstrate emotional stability?
- will they demonstrate enough self-confidence to be successful but not
enough to make errors?
- do they have the coping and time management skills to make it through
this program?