Providing a Path to Career Success

from Agnes Scott The Magazine, Spring/Summer 2022

Giving Highlights

It’s always a prerogative to change your mind about your career. But what if you have no science background and decide you want to become a doctor? Agnes Scott College can help. Ezra Adams PB ’15 earned both graduate and undergraduate degrees in music and worked in education for 12 years. Brynne Ridgewell PB ’21 graduated with degrees in African Studies and Global Health and then got a nursing degree. Christie Savas PB ’18 earned a degree in business and worked as a business consultant for several years.

And then, at some point, these three decided to make a sharp turn in their career paths and become doctors.

Adams, Ridgewell and Savas are just a few of the hundreds of individuals who have completed Agnes Scott College’s Post-Baccalaureate Pre-Medical (Post-Bacc Pre-Med) program on their way to medical school. For the last 26 years, Agnes Scott has offered a path for people who want to go to medical school through this program. The oldest one of its kind in Georgia, Agnes Scott’s Post-Bacc Pre-Med program is designed for students who took little or no pre-medical science courses in their undergraduate programs or those who completed these courses more than five years ago.

During an intensive 12-month period, students immerse themselves in biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, physics and biochemistry. They are grouped in their own cohort—made up of about 30 students—and take introductory science classes that prepare them for medical school, as well as physician assistant, veterinary medicine, dentistry and related programs.

“This program gives people who have changed their minds and want to change careers a path to pursue their dream of medical school,” says Mary Nell Higley ’01, director of the Post-Bacc Pre-Med program. “And because of that, we try to mimic the rigor of medical school. The material is challenging with the goal of preparing them for what’s ahead.”

The Post-Bacc Pre-Med program began in 1995, when Agnes Scott alumnae who were thinking of applying to medical school asked if they could come back and take the introductory science classes they needed. As word got out, the number of post-baccalaureate students increased and the school decided to make it into its own program.

One notable Agnes Scott alumna who completed the Post-Bacc Pre-Med program is Rebecca Sanders ’97, PB ’01, who had double majored in English and theatre at Agnes Scott. After graduation, she worked at the Santa Fe Opera and then Atlanta’s Seven Stages Theatre. But something was tugging at her. She’d always thought she wanted to be a doctor, but didn’t listen to that voice. Finally, she did. She returned to her alma mater, the place she loved, to start on a new career journey. She credits the Post-Bacc Pre-Med program with giving her the confidence to pursue that calling.

“I wasn’t entirely confident I could do medical school,” says Sanders, who didn’t take a single science class in her undergraduate studies. “But

the faculty was so incredibly supportive and encouraging; they made me feel that this was something I could do.”

Ridgewell, who is in her first year of medical school at Mercer School of Medicine, had taken science classes as an undergraduate, but they were beyond the five-year window. She was prepared to go anywhere, but the Georgia native chose Agnes Scott because of the small size and the way the program is organized. “They see your potential and say ‘let’s make this happen for you,’” she says. “Everything is planned, you don’t have to fight for classes and they help you every step of the way.”

The cohort model also offers the college the flexibility to make changes that meet the needs of the students. For example, biochemistry was added to the curriculum a few years ago when questions on the subject began showing up on the Medical College Admission Test.

Higley says the success of the program is highlighted in the students’ success.

“Ninety percent of qualified students who complete the Agnes Scott Post-Bacc Pre-Med program are accepted into medical school during their first application cycle.” Higley notes this is based on qualified students who completed the post-bacc pre-med program between 2014 and 2020 and who scored =/+ the 50th percentile on the MCAT.

Former students credit the professors, the college and Higley herself for where they are today.

“As a career changer, you need the best basic science foundation you can get,” says Savas, a first-year internal medicine resident at Memorial Health University Hospital in Savannah. “Agnes Scott helps you gain the knowledge base from a dedicated group of professors who want to help you. And you’re with a great group of people who want the same thing as you do.”

Adams, who attended Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine at Auburn University and is now in his third year of residency at East Tennessee State University in Bristol, agrees.

“Agnes Scott can help you be better than you were,” Adams says. “They are invested in your success from day one. They can take someone who has no science background and teach them the skills they need to be a doctor. For that, I am so grateful.”

AGNES SCOTT COLLEGE EXPANDS ITS POST- BACCALAUREATE OPPORTUNITIES

In an effort to continue to meet students’ academic needs, Agnes Scott is expanding its post-bacc program to offer three options to help students achieve their professional goals: a pre-medical certificate program, a pre-medical flex program and a pre-allied health program.

In addition to these new Post- Baccalaureate Pre-Medical programs, Agnes Scott is also introducing three new master’s programs, all with a focus on health. The new programs include a Master of Arts in clinical mental health counseling, a Master of Science in medical sciences and a Master of Science in health communications.

“The areas of mental health counseling, medicine, allied health and health communications are growing at a rapid pace,” says Kelly Ball, associate dean for graduate studies at Agnes Scott College. “Agnes Scott is preparing the next generation of health professionals to meet this growing need. These graduate programs highlight the importance of scientific inquiry, effective communication and inclusive and intersectional leadership.”