Thoughts on the Extension School's Health Careers Program/post-bacc for students interested in medical school

When talking about Extension School programs on this blog, I've concentrated on issues relating to the graduate liberal arts ALM. On occasion I've mentioned the professional ALMs (ALM in Management, ALM in IT, etc.), as well as the undergraduate ALB but have seldom discussed the other programs at the Extension School.

Harvard Extension School graduation

Today, though, I thought I would highlight one of the standout non-degree programs at the Harvard Extension School, the Health Careers Program. The HCP, often referred to as the Harvard "post-bacc", is intended for people who have completed their undergraduate studies but need to take additional science courses (or brush up on their Human Anatomy & Physiology) in order to apply to medical school. While the Harvard Extension School awards a Diploma in Premedical Studies to students who have completed the eight required introductory science courses, a far more valuable document to students is an HCP sponsorship. A sponsorship has a stringent set of requirements (for instance, it takes into account students' undergraduate GPAs), and comes with composite letter of recommendation that apparently is well-regarded by medical school admissions committees (adcoms) across the country.

Harvard Extension School post-bacc and medical school admission

The HCP does not release statistics relating to the number of students who have gone on to medical school, but several students have posted their assessments of the Extension School's post-bacc on the StudentDoctor.net website. I am excerpting some of their comments, which are generally quite positive about the quality of the program:

Curious Tom:

03-14-2005, 11:58 AM

It all depends on individual backgrounds and qualities. Generally speaking, though, the program seems to have people going to not just any med schools, but top schools if that's what you want to hear. Each year about 50 people get sponsored and most of them get accepted somewhere. I myself am debating between a sunny UC school (I'm from CA) and a private in cold northeast (both are top 15). But remember, many people in the program are from ivy undergrads or have very interesting backgrounds. Apart from that, based on my limited experience with the schools I interviewed, this program itself is well perceived by the adcom.

chlorineK

03-14-2005, 12:17 PM

I graduated from columbia and then did the harvard post-bacc and so far, I am going to duke. So it worked for me, too.

twicetenturns

03-14-2005, 12:34 PM

I finished HES's Health Careers program last spring and couldn't have been more pleased. To date, I have been fortunate enough to be accepted to Harvard, Hopkins, Cornell, Northwestern, and Stanford. The program is perfect for people who want to work during the day (research, clinical, etc.) and not go broke. Plus, they write really nice letters. Owen actually sounded personally insulted when I told him that I didn't get into UCSF. But alas, not from sunny Cali.

ads99:

03-14-2005, 08:20 PM

I did the Health Careers Program at Harvard Extension and am choosing between University of Chicago and University of Pittsburgh. Everyone in my study group from school has been accepted to a competitive med school program. One of these people applied very late to schools and is now choosing between several top 20 programs.

As someone mentioned, a lot of people in the extension school program have interesting backgrounds. People like TwiceTenTurns blow us away sometimes, but that just makes the student body that much more interesting. Half of the people in my study group went to ivy undergrads. *But* the other half of my study group attended state schools. The program definitely is perceived well by ADCOM's. I think it was an excellent excellent value and am ecstatic with where it got me. The advising was great and, in my opinion, the classes were very well taught and very well organized. :thumbup:

XildUpNawth:

05-14-2007, 06:12 PM

I went to a liberal arts college with no grades for undergrad, then did an MPH with grades (good ones ;) ), then finished and/or retook my pre-reqs through HES HCP. I was sponsored and applied through the HCP. I have been accepted to BU, UAB, U Miami, U Maryland and USA. I was on hold at AECOM and UF, but dropped off the hold list. I'll be attending UAB. HES is a great opportunity and I highly recommend it.

Mae16:

05-21-2007, 07:56 PM

How tough are the classes at HES? The lectures have 300, 400 people, right? Were you able to get help/tutoring if you needed it?

Also, does the scheduling work out such that you can complete the necessary courses in two years (eg, classes that you needed to take weren't scheduled simultaneously, correct?)

thanks!

Lokhtar:

08-16-2007, 07:39 AM

Someone said that he learned more in Harvard Extention bio course, than he learned in two years of bio, and one year of genetics and part of the first semester of his medical school.

He might have been exaggerating, but the coursework is very tough and time consuming, and part of the reason why it is looked so favorably by adcoms everywhere.

punkindrublic

08-16-2007, 09:03 AM

The coursework is really demanding. You're going to be required to know a ton, and not just regurgitate it, but to apply it to new situations and presentations on exams. It's really pretty fair for the most part though; all the professors give you practice/old exams to study from so you'll be familiar with the structure and timing before you take the real thing.

That said, bio is absolutely brutal. Fixsen will expect you to know everything inside and out, but it was really an interesting and enjoyable course, and prepares you beautifully for the MCAT.

HanginInThere:

08-16-2007, 10:41 AM

As punkin and Lokhtar say, the courses are challenging. In my experience, they were similar to what I'd expect from taking the same class at a competitive undergrad school.

I thought the intro class sizes averaged closer to 100-200 students, rather than 300-400. But that's just a guess from glancing around lecture halls - regardless, they're your typical big intro science classes, where you'll get personal attention from your TAs ["TF"s, actually, because it's Haah-vaahd!] but you'll never speak to the professors unless you actively seek them out. But they all have office hours, so if you want them to get to know you it's definitely doable.

Tutoring/help is easy. You're assigned to discussion sections with Teaching Fellows which meet regularly - one hour a week for most courses, if I remember right. That's your first stop for review/help/etc. If you need more, the TFs and professors have office hours, and everyone seems happy to work with you as much as you want. The whole system is set up to offer you all the support you'll need. If that still isn't enough, I think there are people who offer unofficial paid tutorial services, but I don't have any experience with that. (Oh, and you should look to your classmates for help, too. People will organize study groups, or you'll just get to know the people around you and discuss stuff informally. This is a great resource. Everybody I met was friendly and in interested in collaboration - I never saw any stereotypical cutthroat premed behavior.)

For scheduling, yes - you can do it in two years. General Chemistry and Organic are scheduled for the same time on purpose, because gchem is a required prereq for orgo and they want to be sure you don't double up. Physics and Bio are different nights from each other and from the chems. You can take them in whichever order works for you and finish in two years, no problem.

Of course, these are anonymous, online posters to a two-and-a-half-year-old discussion board thread, but I am inclined to believe that these people have taken HCP classes and are being honest about their medical school acceptances. There were no highly critical appraisals of the post-bacc in this thread.

While I have been in contact with one person who is taking HCP classes, I don't know anyone who has completed it. Current or former HCP students are welcome to add their thoughts below. I'd be interested in hearing what you thought about the classes, the sponsorship, and for those who have completed the HCP, how it helped you navigate the med school admissions process and first year of med school.