Though the new changes to the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) won’t take effect until 2015, Washington University pre-health advising is already planning to adjustment.

The proposed changes, which include the addition of behavioral science as well as critical analysis and reading sections, will be the first major changes that the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) has made to the test since 1991.

The MCAT changes are supposed to make the test more in line with what pre-health professionals will need to know for medical school and their future professions. The AAMC has been doing research on this topic since 2008, according to pre-health advisor Joy Kiefer.

“[The AAMC’s] goal is to keep what’s working and to get rid of the underutilized sections of the test, namely that writing sample, and add the testing of skills that they believe tomorrow’s doctors are going to need in terms of being successful in the changing field of healthcare,” Kiefer said.

Because most students take the MCAT in their junior year, the changes will not affect the majority of current Washington University students. Next fall’s incoming class will be the first significantly affected by the changes.

“The ones who are here right now and pre-med are not going to be affected unless, in some way, they delay their application and somehow end up taking the MCAT in 2015,” Kiefer said.

Kiefer said that though the AAMC has released a preview of the changes, there is still little information about the new look of the test.

“Overall, the intent seems positive, and we think our students will be well positioned to do well,” Kiefer said.

While the pre-health advising department is confident in the University’s ability to prepare students for the new test, Kiefer said that advising could be tweaked slightly to align with the new test information.

“Until the AAMC puts out those preliminary test questions and they really solidify what the test is going to look like, it’s difficult to say how things would change. Our students already pursue a broad-based curriculum,” she said. “[They] will already be doing the kinds of introductory coursework that will make them more than prepared for these new changes.”

Kiefer said that Washington University students will be prepared for the changes, and stressed that the pre-health advising department would assess their advising as more particulars about the new test become available.

“We’re in a wait-and-see mode because not much information has been released. We as an advising team really do believe that our students are going to be prepared for this change,” Kiefer said. “If we notice how we have to tweak anything, we will certainly be on the cutting edge of tweaking the things that we say to our students.”