A brief description of technological tools that can be useful for prehealth advisors in assessing advisees and their advising program.

1. Tooling Up Your Advising Emil Chuck, Ph.D. George Mason University April 1, 2011 Northeast Association of Advisors for the Health Professions Newport, Rhode Island

2. Agenda What tools have my advisees used? Annual Welcome Week Survey 2010-2011 Preapplication 2011 (for EY 2012) Taking advantage of Facebook addiction. GMU Health Professions Advising fan page. QR Codes: The Next Frontier. You know, that weird square “bar code”.

3. Online survey tools Administered through SurveyMonkey (institutional rate). $300/year (Gold-level subscription) Annual “Welcome Week” survey Open between May 15 to May 14 annually. Required to “declare premed” to advising (me). Questionnaire and census for all advisees. Pre-application Open only to declared intended applicants (from WWS) Email (unique link). Open between December 10 and January 15. Required for committee letter process.

4. Advisees’ use of internet Aside from what is covered on the prehealth website and associated resources (iTunes, Facebook, wiki pages), what additional information and support do you seek to achieve your career goals? (n=517)

5. Pre-applicants internet sources Which online resources do you rely upon to get information about health professional careers and the application process? Use a new line for each resource/website. Text analysis of 184 responses (approximate) 81 (44%) Student Doctor Network 81 (44%) GMU Prehealth website 45 (24%) AAMC

6. Sample responses I have relied upon the GMU prehealth website to gain an understanding of all the requirements for the application process at GMU. I also referred to it frequently for the diagnostic reports of George Mason students and the number who have been accepted into health professional programs. I relied on the MasonWikiPrehealth page to access the list of summer enrichment programs in the past, from which I selected to apply to SMDEP. More recently, I have been viewing the list of postbaccalaureate programs that are offered. I visited the Student Doctor Network website regularly to stay informed with the latest articles that are posted. On the forums, I was able to read about experiences that current dental students have as well. I visited predents.com for an overview of the types of students that are being accepted into specific dental schools. I visited each dental school’s website that I intend to apply to for an understanding of each school’s requirements and to gain as much information about the school as possible. I visited the ADEA website, particularly the section for “Current and Future Students”, for links for predental students and the guidelines for applying to dental schools. I mainly use facebook as a lot of organizations have facebook pages now so it makes it quite easy. I subscribe to online feeds through facebook of various medical/health-related professional organizations to stay updated on current issues in healthcare affecting medical professionals. Some organizations I follow on facebook: AAMC, AMCAS, AMA, AMSA, as well as different U.S. medical schools' facebook pages.

7. Addicted to Facebook How I try to get my prehealth advisees hooked…

8. Online management strategy Main website Online handbook SurveyMonkey: registration and application Data analysis for applicant pool and evaluation Email listserv Immediately important messages Use it more rarely than before. Constant Contact Weekly timed email reminders Blackboard Manage as a virtual “file drawer”, complements paper files iTunesU Audio archive for presentations MasonWiki Updatable information (summer programs, postbacopps, etc.) Facebook Social engagement and advocacy with advisees Twitter Aggregate newsfeeds, form “twibe” with other prehealth/medical education feeds EventBrite Pre-registration website (tickets)

9. Facebook Personal pages Group pages Fan (business) pages http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/etchuck http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/home.php?sk=group_123803334353304&ap=1 http://www.facebook.com/pages/George-Mason-University-Prehealth-Advising/122967808748

10. George Mason University Prehealth Advising Students: Stop friending me! Launched April1, 2010 Open to public Students Alumni Faculty Visitors Can “like” affiliated fan pages. Professional schools Application services University allies Other organizations Affiliated fan pages liked NIH AAMC (AMCAS, FIRST, SMDEP alumni, AspiringDocs) PharmCAS ADEA (AADSAS) VMCAS Emory Prehealth Office OldPremeds.org Also, there is a “GMU Undergraduate Research” fan page. Communicate about research opportunities.

11. Facebook is not (and is more than) email. Facebook works best when Fans view interesting information (to like/comment). News articles Information is updated daily. You link multimedia to the site. You share updates from other sites. Send them something useful to look at when they aren’t paying attention in class. Exam break YouTube daily professional school follies videos http://www.youtube.com/user/etchuck#grid/user/6C99E3F1560C5436

12. 2D barcodes: stop typing… Use your cellphones to complement your presentations...

13. QR Codes (2D bar codes) Quick Response Instead of typing in a URL into a smartphone. Readable by QR barcode readers With a program/app, readable on camera-enabled smart phones. For those with apps, try these.

14. Other 2D barcodes Datamatrix BeeTagg http://www.beetagg.com/

15. Use a QR code on your letterhead

16. Use a QR code to promote yourself/office Business cards Name tags Credit: Chris Suspect, American Society for Microbiology AAAS 2011 Social Media Soiree