A coalition of pre-health student groups will host Washington University’s Pre-Health Week, a five-day event featuring programming from Monday, Oct. 22 through Friday, Oct. 26.

Among the organizations involved are pre-health honorary fraternities Alpha Epsilon Delta (AED) and Alpha Iota Gamma (AIR), American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA), Doctors Without Borders, Pre-Med Society and neuroscience group Synapse. The programming will include both professional networking opportunities and social events.

Students will also have the opportunity to meet with medical professionals with a variety of backgrounds through panels and discussions and get advice on medical school preparation through resume workshops.

AED president Terrence Tsou first began preparations for the event by reaching out to Synapse co-president senior Eric Song, asking if he wanted to incorporate Synapse’s upcoming MD panel into a larger event.

“[Tsou] knew that Synapse was having a MD panel somewhere in the near future so we kind of built around that, and then he started contacting other clubs to get them to set up events in the same time frame,” Song said.

According to Tsou, having a range of pre-health organizations present at Pre-Health week is important so students are exposed to all kinds healthcare professional opportunities.

“I tried to contact student groups from diverse topics,” Tsou said. “We all do something a little different, and so I thought that was important for Pre-Health Week to be able to showcase the different areas of pre-health.”

Song said that the collaborative week of programming will increase visibility for pre-health student groups on campus.

“Some of the groups that are having events, for instance, are like Pre-Med Society, which is pretty general among the health community here at Wash. U.,” Song said. “But you also have Doctors Without Borders and American Medical Women’s Association and some of the honor societies like AED and AIR having events as well. It’s a pretty diverse perspective you get.”

According to co-president of Synapse junior Courtney Chan, one of the goals of Pre-Health Week is to display the range of careers and paths in the medical field to interested students.

“We want all students who are interested in pursuing healthcare to explore their options,” Chan said. “Whether they came into college sure of what they wanted to do or are wondering if medicine is right for them, our goal is to host a range of fun, interactive and informative events that connect students with their peers who are thinking about the same things or doctors who have been in their shoes.”

Chan is most looking forward to the MD panel, an event she attended her freshman year.

“The doctors we bring in are always fantastic, friendly and eager to talk to students one-on-one about any and all questions they have,” Chan said. “For me, I attended this panel my freshman year…I can still remember listening to a female neurologist talk about her passions and work-life balance and everything in between and thinking, ‘This is really exciting and where I want to be.’”