UT Student Government passed a bill on Tuesday to improve access to University resources for pre-health students outside of the College of Natural Sciences.
The bill advocates for all pre-health students, regardless of whether they are in CNS, to join the Health Professions Office’s mailing list of events and resources, and for all colleges to promote the office. Through student outreach, the bill’s authors found pre-health students outside of CNS claimed they did not have access to resources that would aid them in their career paths. According to the bill, pre-health students in psychology were the most impacted.
Akshathh Mukkera, SG’s international representative and main author of the bill, said while he was campaigning, he heard concerns about access to research experiences from students within the College of Liberal Arts. Mukkera said the College of Liberal Arts already agreed to list pre-health resources on its websites. He now wants to expand this reach to all University colleges, Mukkera said.
“The people who work in the (University) administration want to see students succeed and increase the resources that are provided to them,” said Mukkera, a public health senior. “We’re asking to add a couple links on a page … to change the amount of people on your mailing list. It’s not logistically difficult to do.”
Neha Darimadugu, a psychology and health and society junior, said the health professions fair, which is open to all students, has been useful. However, she said she would like more targeted resources for people outside of the College of Natural Sciences, like herself.
“Psychology, the bachelor of science, is very specifically targeted towards pre-med students,” Darimadugu said. “So if it’s targeted towards pre-med students, it is the department’s responsibility to make sure that their needs are being advocated for. “
Leander D’Costa, a University-wide representative and co-author of the bill, said he would like to have at least one academic advisor knowledgeable on pre-health opportunities within each college. There are over 50 organizations on campus that support pre-health students, but students are not always aware of them, said D’Costa, an international relations and global studies senior.
“These organizations exist, we just need to find a common place to bring them together,” D’Costa said. “A lot of pre-health students don’t seem to know that these resources exist and they’re often stressed out. We want to find a way to help them.”
