Alpha Epsilon Delta, a pre-professional health honor society, will soon join the mass of Hilltop organizations.
Two sophomore students, psychology major Nikki Pearl and biochemistry major Brandon McFarlin, separately approached the Director of Pre-Professional Health Valerie Bennett with the idea of creating a pre-health society a couple of weeks ago. The students are now leading the formation of the society.
“Ironically, we didn’t plan it, but we both ended up mentioning something [to Bennett], so [she] said we should work together,” Pearl said.
The international society will welcome students interested in health care to join its chapter.
“We have a lot of students interested in health professions, and we have a lot of really bright and talented students,” Bennett said. “This is a nice way to recognize them and create an organization to bring them together.”
Pearl said she and McFarlin want to create a campus organization that focuses on bringing together all pre-health professions instead of focusing on one.
“In the health care system, everyone works together…doctors are communicating with physical therapists who are communicating with athletic trainers,” Pearl said. “It makes sense to have something like that on campus.”
According to Bennett, who will serve as the chapter’s advisor, the students liked the idea of creating a chapter of a national organization because it provides a connection to a larger pre-health community, with more than 150 Alpha Epsilon Delta chapters already in existence at other universities.
According to McFarlin students are required to meet some set standards, such as having a minimum 3.2 science and overall GPA as well as completing a certain number of service hours.
“Part of their mission is service, so I’ll be looking into doing some community service projects,” Bennett said.
Bennett said they want the society to be something more than another point to write on a résumé.
“We want [the society] to be active and engaging, whether we bring in speakers or [host] discussions on current issues in health care,” Bennett said. “We want to have it be something that’s meaningful and challenging to students beyond just their classroom coursework.”
According to Bennett, they are in the early stages of forming the society. Before the chapter is official, there is an application process, which includes letters of support from Bennett as the advisor, other science faculty and an existing Alpha Epsilon Delta chapter.
Bennett said she hopes the chapter will launch next fall.
There will be an organizational meeting March 30 at 7 p.m., where students can express interest in joining the society.
To be added to the email list to receive further information about Alpha Epsilon Delta, students can contact Bennett at vbennett@fsmail.bradley.edu, Pearl at npearl@mail.bradley.edu or McFarlin at bmcfarlin@mail.bradley.edu.
