Andrea Nale of Gilbert leads effort to mentor pre-med students

A group of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine students have dedicated what little spare time they have to mentoring undergraduate students and preparing them to be competitive applicants. Since its founding in 2018, the Premedical Mentoring and Advising Program has helped 17 students get into medical school and was recognized by GCSOM students as “organization of the year” for the 2018-2019 academic year, based upon student votes. Andrea Nale of Gilbert, a member of GCSOM’s MD Class of 2022, is a student leader in PMAP, holding the position of vice president.

PMAP was founded by Alyssa Muchisky, a member of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine’s MD Class of 2021.

As a first-year student, Alyssa was surprised to learn her classmates had such a wide range of premedical experiences. As undergraduates, some had access to plenty of support and mentoring, while others more or less had to find their own way through a yearslong process to build the right resume and gain the skills necessary to successfully land a seat in medical school. Knowing others missed out on the support she received inspired her to found PMAP.

Because Alyssa has moved onto her busy third year, PMAP is now in the hands of second-year students Zoe Landau, president, and Andrea Nale, vice president, who have built upon Alyssa’s initial plans.