Pre-Health Student Groups

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The UCLA Career Center offers personal assistance and programs on the graduate and professional school application process, including program selection, the personal statement, faculty recommendations, admissions tests, and financial assistance. Please review this section of our web site for important information you should consider and think about as you plan your coursework.

The UCLA Career Center collaborates with the following Pre-Medical and Pre-Health groups. Each group has a distinct mission and unique philosophy for better preparing students for a career in medicine described below. If you are interested in obtaining membership information, please contact the group(s) via email.

American Medical Student Association (AMSA)
With over a half century history of medical student activism, the American Medical Student Association is the oldest and largest independent association of physicians-in-training in the United States. The UCLA Premedical Chapter of AMSA is committed to:

Improving health care and healthcare delivery to all people

Involving its members in the social, moral, and ethical obligations of the profession of medicine

Assisting in the improvement and understanding of world health problems

Actively supplementing premedical education with a broader perspective and understanding of their chosen profession

Contributing to the welfare of premedical students

Developing and empowering the physician leaders of tomorrow

For more information about this organization visit their on campus website or their national website. For more information regarding student membership in the UCLA chapter, send an email.

Pre-Medical Peer Association (PPA)
PPA is an organization for premedical students and sets out to unify pre-medical students by promoting a forum for discussion and creating a center for support. If you're interested in mock interviews, evaluation of your personal statement, secondaries and discussions on current health topics, please attend the weekly meetings or send an email. For more information about this organization visit their website.

The Pre-Dental Student Outreach Program
is an organization founded by a UCLA pre-dental student with a mission to assist other pre-dental students in the process of applying to dental school by providing them with the right resources. This organization works closely with UCLA dental students to promote dental-related volunteer activities to help low-income communities in the Los Angeles area. Their primary goal is to answer any questions that pre-dental students have about the field of dentistry, various dental schools across the nation, the DAT exam, requirements for dental school, and the application process. There will be a variety of guest speakers/representatives and interactive discussions where students will have the opportunity to ask all their questions. If you are interested in attending their weekly meetings, for more information on The Pre-Dental Student Outreach Program, or to be added to the mailing list, send an email. Check the website for the most up-to-date information.

UCLA Global Medical Relief Program
Our goal is to help alleviate the lack of healthcare in developing nations through acts of volunteerism. We've touched many lives throughout the world in Costa Rica, India, Vietnam, and Tijuana. For more information on how to get involved or for more information, contact us by email and visit our website for more details.

Pre-SOMA (Pre-Student Osteopathic Medical Association)
Affiliated with the UCLA Physiological Sciences Department
Pre-SOMA is the undergraduate division of the Student Osteopathic Medical Association. Our goals are to promote and to inform the public about osteopathic medical education, as well as to support applicants to osteopathic medical schools. Like medical doctors (MDs), doctors of osteopathy (DOs) have full practice rights in the United States, are able to prescribe medicine, and can specialize in any field. What is unique about osteopathic medicine is its emphasis on preventative medicine and the holistic approach to treatment, with a special focus on the musculoskeletal system. Osteopathic medical students learn from the beginning of their careers to treat their patients as whole persons, rather than a collection of body parts; to emphasize the body's natural ability to heal itself, rather than resorting immediately to drugs. In addition, osteopathic doctors receive extra training in osteopathic manipulative therapy/medicine (OMT/OMM), which allows osteopathic doctors to use their hands to diagnose, treat, and prevent illness or injury by stretching, applying gentle pressure, and/or resistance to the musculoskeletal system. Check the website for more information or visit our club website.

Student Health Outreach Program (SHOUT)
The Student Health OUTreach Project (SHOUT) at UCLA is a student-run initiative aimed at improving access to quality health care services for all individuals through community outreach, educational programming, and advocacy.

Many UCLA students are not aware that one in three children does not have access to health care in the Los Angeles County. Our organization is doing something to change this.

SHOUT members are trained by the National Health Foundation as Certified Application Assistants (CAAs) and enables members to assist those in need with their state health insurance applications. Members help others to understand California's complex health care system and are placed into internship positions in Los Angeles County's local free clinics or one of SHOUT's research and community outreach locations.

ALL majors are welcome. Those who speak Spanish are especially needed. Meetings are on Wednesdays at 6pm in Boelter 9436 (weeks 4, 6, & 8). For more information, contact us by email.