Clubs depict career challenges

Pre-professional clubs can help prepare students for their future careers according to Tyler Holley, a post-baccalaureate student from Cleveland, Tenn., and president of the pre-dental club."I got involved last year because I wanted a leadership role," Holley said.

Holley said the club hosts guest speakers and organizes opportunities for students to shadow professionals in their field.

"We have new dentists speak about the application process and how it was in dental school," he said.

"We also give out shadowing lists of dentists in an area. You get to watch a professional in the discipline."

Holley said the club has been a great help in getting him contacts in his field.

"It would be very time consuming to call up dental offices and ask them if we can shadow," Holley said.

"Here [at the club] we've done the hard work for you in finding a dentist that wants students to shadow them." he added.

"At the university I attended prior to UTC, we were pretty much on our own with contacts," Holley added. "[The club] builds great relationships within your career field."

Crystal Brand, a Memphis senior and president of the pre-med club said the club has helped her get involved on campus and given her insight to her future career.

"I want to engage the group more on campus," Brand said.

"We've been able to tour medical schools. There was a trip to Vanderbilt with this club that was very beneficial for me.

"I've been able to shadow surgeries," Brand added.

"It was then that the childish ideologies I'd had took the back seat," she said. "You get to see and talk to people at your level. It's encouraging to know there are people right there with you.

"We provide both information and inspiration," Brand said. "We also have guest speakers from various medical schools. I've gained incredible insight into the application process [for medical school]," she added.

"They talk about their course load and how they got in," she said.

Being in the pre-med club also gets students a discount for the MCAT exam, according to Brand.

Brittany Parker, a senior from Nashville and president of the pre-vet club said the club has helped her become more competitive in her field.

"It's hard to get into veterinary schools because there are only 28 in the United States," Parker said. "We realize it's hard and we give students the means to get into veterinary school.

"Every year, we go to UTK Vet School," she said.Students get a tour of the school, she added.

Parker said the club has recently gotten a lot more campus involvement.

The club gets involved with animal shelters in Chattanooga, including the Human Educational Society. "We also help with fund raising events," she added.

"It's helped me organize myself. It's given me a glimpse of what my life will be like when I grow up," she said.

"It's given me a business perspective of college life.

"I got a job because a veterinarian contacted my advisor," she said.

Parker said students who are thinking about graduate schools should pay attention to their extracurricular activities.

"I think it's really helpful, especially to people who wouldn't be involved in anything otherwise," she said.

For a listing and contact information of special interests and pre-professional clubs, visit http://utc.netclubmgr.com/.