Welcome to the Adams House Pre-Med/Pre-Health advising team! We are here to support Adams students who are interested in careers in the health professions. Many students will utilize our support when they apply to medical school, and we also encourage all students to think about the many ways they can become health care providers, like nursing, dentistry, becoming a physicians' assistant, veterinary medicine, physical therapy, and more. Whatever your interests, please feel free to email adams-medical@hcs.harvard.edu to set up a meeting with one of the Tutors.
Every year, students interested in the health professions are strongly encouraged to fill out the pre-med/pre-health info form. We send this form out in the fall of each year so please look out for it. If you still have not heard from us by December, please reach out to let us know! When you are ready to apply to medical school, please fill out our annual Intent to Apply form, which is sent out each spring.
If you are a graduating senior and think you might apply sometime in the future and want to make sure that you do not miss these emails, please email our mailing list before graduation and we will make sure we keep you on our list to reach out to each year.
Please Subscribe: Subscribe to our mailing list here
Below, please find several important documents from last year’s application cycle. We will be sending these out each year to the pre-med students that we know of, but they are here for your reference:
Adams Pre-Health Resources/Meeting Handouts
- Fall 2021 Meeting Handout *Updated 9/3/21*: an overview of Adams Premed Advising
- Spring 2021 Applicant Meeting Handout *Updated 2/23/21*: important information for those planning to apply in the upcoming cycle with important deadlines
- How to ask for letters of recommendation
- Guide to Letter Writers
- Waiver for letters of recommendation (also included in premed packet)- SEND THIS WAIVER TO RECOMMENDERS
- MCAT percentiles
- Fill Out Intent to Apply form (***2021-2022 Cycle applicants and All Seniors only***) due February 22, 2021
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Submit to adams_coordinator@fas.harvard.edu by Monday, March 22, 2021
- Premed packet: to be completed by all upcoming applicants
- GPA Worksheet: to be completed by all upcoming applicants
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Letters of recommendation (Ask now)
- April 5, 2021 (former Professors)
- May 24, 2021 (current professors)
- Recommenders will submit to adams_coordinator@fas.harvard.edu. Instructions are on the waiver that you must give to each recommender.
- MCAT
- AMCAS
- Personal Statement
- Interview Preparation & Sample Questions
- MD/PhD Pathways
- Additional Health Careers
Please see the OCS Premedical Website for more information
Again, please don't hesitate to contact us at adams-medical@hcs.harvard.edu if you have any questions!
Your Resident Pre-Medical Tutors
Varnel Antoine (He/Him) *Co-Chair*: I was born in Boston, MA, to two Haitian immigrants. During my time at Harvard, I lived in Adams and studied Neurobiology (c/o 2016). Post-grad, I completed an urban education fellowship through AmeriCorps in Boston (lots of Boston in my life) to explore my interests in mentorship and education in underserved populations. I graduated from HMS in May 2021 and am now a Urology resident at Brigham and Women's Hospital. My friends will tell you I’m funny but a horrible cook! I’m finding different ways to be joyful during these pandemic times. I’m back in the hospital treating patients so that’s bringing me some joy right now. Otherwise, catch me responsibly social distancing with friends outside or over zoom or playing with my two kitties Celine and Minuit! This is my third year as a tutor in Adams and sixth year living in the house! Super excited to meet you all!
Talk to me about: Feel free to talk to me about the premed life and strategies for balance, service gap years, medical education, surgery/Urology, work-life balance as a resident, applying as a URiM/as the first in your family to go through the application process, Netflix, Nintendo Switch, my two kitties, or anything else!
Chelsea Messinger (She/her) *Co-Chair*: I am a sixth-year MD-PhD student at Harvard Medical School currently in my fourth year of a PhD in Population Health Sciences - Epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where I focus on applied epidemiological methods and surgical outcomes. I graduated from Yale in 2014 with a degree in History of Science and Medicine and, after graduating, spent a year doing public health research in Malaysia on a Fulbright. In my down time, I spend a lot of time around horses! This is my fourth year as a tutor in Adams, where I am also on the STEM tutor team.
Talk to me about: Just about anything, from concentration selection, to choosing a lab, to work-life balance. In particular, reach out if you are interested in MD-PhD programs, gap years, fellowships, and/or research, particularly in non-basic science (including ‘social science’) fields such as epidemiology, health policy, anthropology, history of science, global health, economics, etc. Also happy to chat through decisions regarding MPH (or other master’s) vs. MD vs. PhD vs. combinations of these.
Rumbi Mushavi (She/her): I am a third year resident in the combined program in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. I have a passion for global health research and spent several years conducting research in rural Uganda on social determinants of health. Rumbi graduated from Harvard Medical School May 2019 and from Harvard College in 2012 with a concentration in Chemistry, secondary in Global Health, and citation in French.
Talk to me about: Feel free to talk to me about anything and everything but especially about how to seek balance in the midst of rigorous coursework, self care, cooking, baking, afrobeats and oh, what it's like to be a doctor (finally!).
Symone Isaac-Wilkins (She/Her): Hi everyone! I’m Symone. I grew up here in Massachusetts in a Caribbean household. I attended Harvard for college and studied HDRB. After graduating from Harvard in 2016, I spent time traveling, working in tech, and am now a 4th year MD/MBA candidate at HMS and HBS. What’s brought me the most joy over this past year has been reconnecting with family and friends and rediscovering my love of cooking and long meditative walks. I’m excited to be back in Cambridge this year and to meet you over the next year!
Talk to me about: URiM, taking a nontraditional gap year, pursuing joint degree programs
Leonie Oostrom-Shah (She/her): Hello Adams! My name is Leonie (she/her/hers) and I am incredibly thrilled to be joining this community alongside my husband, Henry. I graduated from the College in 2015, where I studied HDRB and African American Studies, and I am currently a 2nd year Emergency Medicine resident at HAEMR/BIDMC. I was born in the Netherlands but grew up in the potato capital of the world in eastern Washington state, and have also called San Francisco and Chicago home. I hope to be a resource for you all, especially as related to health/human rights/social justice, mental health and wellness, and the arts. In my down time, I love hiking, learning how to paint, and hanging out with my cat, Effy.
Talk to me about: happy to talk about emergency medicine, gap years, not going to HMS (jkjkjkjk), finding schools with scholarships, rural medicine, first gen in med.
Hannah Smati (She/her) *NRT Lead*: Hey Adams! I’m from Houston, Texas and currently a fourth-year medical student at HMS. I graduated from Adams (best house!) in 2018, where I spent time volunteering as a peer counselor, co-chairing HoCo, and thinking about intersections of storytelling and health. At HMS, I am on the MD track and interested in im/migrant health and combined training in internal medicine and pediatrics. I am excited to be your sounding board for anything that comes up, in the House and beyond!
Talk to me about: NRT mentor relationships, medicine-pediatrics, community health, balancing humanities studies with pre-med requirements, being first gen in med, applying directly through
