Building a health community through the Wisconsin Idea

On campus, there is a lot of focus on the Wisconsin Idea — the principle that education can bring people together and improve lives outside of the classroom. For regional schools and colleges in the Midwest, the Wisconsin Idea has been doing just that.

Friday, May 1, marks the seventh annual Wisconsin Pre-Health Advisers Seminar. Nearly 100 pre-health advisers from schools and colleges in the Midwest will gather at the School of Medicine and Public Health, some coming from as far as northern Indiana.

Their goal: Strengthen ties among health professional schools and the advising community as well as discuss changes in a constantly evolving field. Representatives will be on hand to talk about admissions to medical and other professional health schools, and developments at their home campuses.

The Pre-Health Advisers Seminar got its start seven years ago when Consuelo López Springfield, an assistant dean in the College of Letters and Science, received a grant from the Southwest Wisconsin Area Health Education Center.

“The Wisconsin Pre-Health Advisers Seminar is one way that regional health professionals can connect once a year and talk about the changes in their field,” Springfield says. “From medical school admissions to community-based health programs, this seminar really embodies the Wisconsin Idea of bringing people together and building community.”

This year’s seminar will be held at the UW–Madison School of Medicine and Public Health. Members from a number of Wisconsin schools will speak, including those from UW–Madison, the School of Medicine and Public Health, the Medical College of Wisconsin, Marquette University School of Dentistry and the Physician Assistant Program at UW-LaCrosse. The seminar’s location rotates every year between Madison and Milwaukee.

For more information about the Wisconsin Pre-Health Advisers Seminar, contact Consuelo López Springfield at cspringfield@lssaa.wisc.edu.