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February 14, 2003
MHC’s
Postbaccalaureates Demonstrate It’s Never Too Late to Realize
a Dream
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Photo:
Ben Barnhart
Nola
Monti received an undergraduate degree in business from
Babson College. When she worked for Eli Lilly and Company
selling pharmaceuticals, she realized she wanted to be a
doctor rather than a salesperson. |
Shortly after getting
her business degree at Babson College, Nola Monti landed a job
with Eli Lilly and Company selling pharmaceuticals to physicians.
Her future looked bright, but Monti knew there was something amiss.
“I couldn’t deny it to myself any longer. I wanted
to be the doctor and not the salesperson!” says Monti, who
had dreamed since she was very young of studying medicine. “But
at seventeen, when I was making decisions about courses of study,
I wasn’t mature enough to know what I really wanted. Business
had seemed like a practical choice.”
Despite the uncertainty of leaving her job and charting a new
course, Monti made that about-face and is now among a small but
high-powered group of students in MHC’s Postbaccalaureate
Studies Program administered by the Frances Perkins Program. Designed
for academically talented women and men who have already earned
a bachelor’s degree and have decided to pursue a new direction
in undergraduate study, MHC’s postbaccalaureate program,
established in 1980, has an outstanding track record.
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Photo:
Ben Barnhart
Susan
Harp, a graduate of Hampshire College with a concentration
in theater and religion, is the mother of a young child
and supported her husband through school before she enrolled
at Mount Holyoke. She is currently applying to medical schools. |
So far, 100 percent of the program’s postbaccalaureates
who have completed medical school applications have been accepted
into medical school. When the going gets tough, Monti and new
students such as Laura Green, a political science major who graduated
summa cum laude from Wellesley College in 2000, can look for inspiration
to MHC’s many successful postbaccalaureates. Ruth Potee,
M.D. decided to go to medical school five years after getting
her B.A. in women’s studies from Wellesley. After two semesters
in MHC’s postbaccalaureate program, Potee went on to Yale
Medical School, where she graduated in 1999, following up with
a residency at Boston Medical Center. In addition to Yale, MHC
graduates and postbaccalaureate fellows have attended Harvard,
Johns Hopkins, Cornell, Dartmouth, and Duke, among many other
medical and professional schools.
Clearly, the postbaccalaureate program attracts a determined bunch
of scholars. “These are people who—no matter what
the obstacle—will not accept that it’s too late for
them to realize their dreams,” says Kay Althoff, director
of the Frances Perkins program. Those dreams run a wide gamut
and include liberal arts courses of study as well as premedical.
Some of MHC’s postbaccalaureate students use the program
as a springboard to graduate programs outside their original areas
of study.
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Photo:
Ben Barnhart
Megan
Hill majored in finance and worked at Fidelity Investments
in Dallas before coming to Mount Holyoke. She completed
an internship at Baystate Hospital in Springfield, Massachusetts,
during which she conducted research in the emergency room,
observed procedures, talked to physicians, and really got
a feel for the profession. She plans to attend medical school
and to focus on women’s health and endocrinology. |
Former entrepreneur
Beth Senecal is now studying history and hopes to enter a Ph.D.
program. Others look to boost their current careers by adding
new layers of knowledge. Reiko Seymour, a professional interpreter,
is studying international relations “to expand her understanding
of the world,” says Althoff. Still others come to MHC’s
postbaccalaureate program to study subjects missed on the first
go-around—either because the course of study was not available
or they had yet to discover their affinity for it. That’s
the case for Chikage Honkawa, who, after earning a social science
degree from Tokyo University, has come to Mount Holyoke to study
early music. However, most of MHC’s postbaccalaureates,
like Monti, are aiming for medical school.
While many colleges
and universities have postbaccalaureate programs for premedical
students, Mount Holyoke’s program is unique in its flexibility.
Rather than stipulating a rigidly structured set of courses, the
College assigns each premedical student to an adviser who is a
member of the committee on health professions. Chaired by Jeffrey
Knight, associate professor of biological sciences, and made up
of nine faculty members and a representative from the Career Development
Center, the committee works side-by-side with each postbaccalaureate
fellow, charting a course for a career in health care and providing
guidance tailored to the advisee’s background. Such personal
treatment has been a big plus for Monti. “From day one I
had a member of the committee on health professions working with
me, taking me seriously, and helping me plan my two years,”
says Monti. “That was essential to me and was one of the
reasons I chose the program.”
Among the program’s other great strengths are the commitment
on the part of the science faculty to prepare students for medical
school and the intimacy afforded by a small college setting. Monti
concurs. “I really like the fact that I know all of my professors
and they know me,” says Monti. “They’re very
accessible, and I really feel like I’ve built relationships
with them. I know that if I was doing a postbaccalaureate at a
huge university, that wouldn’t be the case. When it comes
to going to medical school, you want to be able to ask for letters
of recommendation from people who really know you and know your
capabilities.”
While they have some life experiences that traditional students
may not, Monti and other postbaccalaureates are not much different
from their traditional premed counterparts. Like other premeds,
postbaccalaureate premeds work hard and dream big dreams. They
also take practical steps, using career internships to explore
fields of interest while at MHC. Monti, for example, spent two
January Terms in New Hampshire learning about the world of the
primary care physician, and this summer she did medical research
in a university laboratory.
Monti, who has maintained a 3.95 grade point average during her
tenure at Mount Holyoke, has made an impression on her professors.
Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences Amy Frary sees a “high
degree of motivation” among all of the postbaccalaureate
students. “They are truly delighted to be here and for that
reason are a delight to teach and work with.” Monti “exemplifies
this,” Frary says. “Her enthusiasm and strong work
ethic are particularly notable.”
For students like Monti who have pulled long-cherished dreams
off the shelf, MHC’s postbaccalaureate program provides
a welcome second chance. Says Monti, “I knew when I interviewed
at Mount Holyoke that I was going to get the guidance, support,
and encouragement I needed to make my dream a reality.”
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