Biomedical Honor Corps

The Biomedical Honor Corps at Xavier University of Louisiana is an academic year enrichment organization specifically designed to provide guidance to new freshman and new transfer students at Xavier who are interested in careers as physicians, dentists, veterinarians, optometrists, podiatrists, and other types of health professionals. 

Purpose: To assist Xavier students, particularly those from racial and ethnic populations that are underrepresented in the medical profession, with the process of preparing competitive applications for entry into medical, dental, veterinary, optometry, podiatry, and other types of health professions schools.

Services provided: Premed students who are active in the Biomedical Honor Corps at Xavier are provided guidance through weekly group meetings and other advising activities that are designed to complement the support provided by academic advisors in major departments and other on-campus support offices. Students do NOT receive academic credit for Biomedical Honor Corps participation. The Biomedical Honor Corps offers academic year enrichment activities to new premeds (freshman and transfer) who are interested in cultivating competitive applications to medical, dental, and other types of health professions schools. Activities for the Biomedical Honor Corps include the following:

• Overview of the different types of health professions schools beginning the first week of the first semester of college;
• Step-by-step assistance in exploring what students need to do every semester, beginning freshman year, to be more competitive applicants for medical, dental, and other types of health professions schools;
• Guidance in preparing for the Medical College Admission Test, the Dental Admission Test, and similar health professions entrance examinations;
• Assistance in applying to summer research and enrichment programs which expose students to the health professions and/or biomedical sciences;
• Assistance in writing the personal statement, the special post-secondary experiences form, and other items required for most summer program applications and health professions school applications;
• Recruitment visits to Xavier by representatives from health professions schools and related graduate programs;
• Workshops conducted by individuals working in a variety of health professions; and 
• Comprehensive pre-health professions advising via group meetings, individual meetings, and email communication.

Who is eligible to participate: All new freshman premeds and new transfer premeds who enroll at Xavier are encouraged to participate in Biomedical Honor Corps meetings and related activities during their first academic year. New premeds (freshman and transfer) should sign-in with the Premedical Office at their first Xavier registration to receive the Biomedical Honor Corps meeting schedule and to begin receiving advising and informational emails from the Premedical Office. 

For inquiries about the Biomedical Honor Corps, please contact the Premedical Office at (504) 520-7437 or xupremed@yahoo.com.

Dates of the program: Activities for the Biomedical Honor Corps are typically conducted from August-April during the student's first year at Xavier. The Biomedical Honor Corps is NOT a summer program; it is an academic year enrichment organization for which participants receive NO college credit. 

Scholarships: Xavier's Biomedical Honor Corps is NOT a scholarship program. That is, participants receive no funds from the program or the Premedical Office. Students interested in scholarships to attend Xavier should contact the Admissions Office directly at 504-520-7388 or 1-877-XAVIERU.

How to Apply: There is no separate application for the Biomedical Honor Corps. The Premedical Office invites all new premeds (freshman and transfer) who have been accepted into Xavier to participate in the Biomedical Honor Corps. Any freshman or transfer premed student (regardless of major) who is interested in gaining entry into medical, dental, or another type of health professions school is encouraged to be actively involved in Biomedical Honor Corps advising activities during the student’s first year at Xavier. If you have NOT already applied to Xavier University of Louisiana, please do so at http://www.xula.edu.

Alpha Epsilon Delta Premedical Honor Society

Alpha Epsilon Delta (AED) is the international Health Pre-professional Honor Society with more than 150 chapters across the United States and Canada. The Louisiana Eta Chapter at Xavier University was established in 1976. It was the only chapter of AED on the campus of an HBCU until the spring of 1997, when a chapter was established at the Atlanta University Center to serve Morehouse, Spelman, Morris Brown, and Clark Atlanta. 

The Louisiana Eta Chapter of Alpha Epsilon Delta accepts eligible students for membership during the spring semester of each year. In order to join the Louisiana Eta Chapter of AED, a student must . . . 

• Be enrolled at Xavier (any major) and pursuing admission into medical, dental, veterinary, optometry, podiatry, or another type of health professions school.
• Have completed all of General Chemistry lecture and lab, at least one semester of General Biology lecture and lab, and at least one semester of Organic Chemistry lecture and lab. 
• Have an overall GPA of greater than or equal to 3.2. 
• Have a Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Math (BCPM) GPA of 3.2 or above.
• Have no more than ONE repeated course in Biology, Chemistry, Physics or Math (BCPM). 
• Have completed at least 45 semester hours at Xavier. *

*SPECIAL NOTE FOR TRANSFER STUDENTS: Transfer students who meet the GPA requirements are eligible for membership consideration AFTER the completion of one semester at Xavier. The grade point averages used to determine scholastic eligibility at Xavier will be determined by including grades earned at Xavier and previously attended colleges or universities.

Early Medical School Acceptance Programs & Other Professional School Partnerships

The following health professions schools currently have special partnerships with Xavier University of Louisiana:

• Tulane University Medical School Early Acceptance Program
• University of Rochester Medical School Early Assurance Program
• St. Louis University Medical School Pre-Medical Scholars Program for Early Acceptance
• Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth Early Assurance Program
• Michigan State University College of Human Medicine Mission SMART Initiative
• Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine Early Assurance Program
• LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans Medical School Early Acceptance Program
• Baylor College of Medicine BS/MD Program
• University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine PASS-HBCU Program
• Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine Xavier-Mayo Alliance Early Assurance Program
• SUNY Downstate Medical School Early Medical Education Program
• University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Dentistry Early Assurance Program
• University of Southern California School of Dentistry Conditional Admissions Assurance Program
• Rush University College of Nursing Preferential Admission Program 
• University of Southern California Doctor of Physical Therapy Early Assurance Program

All partnership programs with health professions schools are discussed in detail during the Biomedical Honor Corps meetings (an organization for all new freshman and transfer premed students at Xavier) and during one-on-one premed assessment meetings held at strategic times starting freshman year.  There are very specific majors, GPA, XU semester hours, coursework, and other requirements that must be met by specific deadlines to be eligible for these programs. As a result, students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the requirements EARLY so they can begin satisfying program requirements starting in the fall semester of the freshman year. Further, students who wish to be considered for these programs must be actively engaged in Premedical Office advising activities starting freshman year and adhere to program-specific, detailed application timelines (including the required critique of application components by Premed Office staff ). In addition to carefully reviewing the program descriptions linked above, freshman premeds should become familiar with the detailed application process for programs of interest. Application details for each program are available to currently enrolled XU students in the Premed Office’s XULA Portal (under Resources/Forms).

In addition to early admission programs, other special opportunities are available to eligible students such as:  Mayo Clinic XULA Dean’s Scholars Summer Program, Ochsner Surgical/ENT Summer Internship Program, and Kaplan “All-Access” Partnership, which allows eligible XU undergraduates to enroll in an online MCAT, DAT, OAT, or other entrance exam prep course free-of-charge. As opportunities for XU premeds become available, they will be communicated to students accordingly via Premed Office emails and meetings.  You must sign in with the Premed Office during your first Xavier registration and proactively engage in Premed Office advising activities for your applying class (including carefully reading Premed Office emails daily).

 

Special note about early acceptance and other special admission programs: The special partnership programs detailed above are not the only such programs that may be available to undergraduate students. Students should inquire with other medical, dental, and other health professions schools of interest in special opportunities that may be available. For example:

• The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (New York, NY) offers the FlexMed early assurance program to which eligible undergraduate students may apply in the fall of sophomore year. Visit http://icahn.mssm.edu/education/medical/admissions/flexmed for more details.
• The University of Toledo College of Medicine (Toledo, OH) offers the MedStart Program for early acceptance. Eligible students apply directly to this program in the fall of junior year. Visit http://www.utoledo.edu/med/md/admissions/medstart.html for more details.
• The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine offers the Summer Premedical Academic Enrichment Program (SPAEP), whereby eligible summer program participants have the opportunity to apply for the Early Assurance Program. The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) is waived for students who are conditionally accepted into the Early Assurance Program via SPAEP. Visit http://www.medschooldiversity.pitt.edu/our-programs/summer-premedical-academic-enrichment-program-spaep for more details.
• The Zucker Pipeline Program (ZPP) at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell (Zucker School of Medicine) in Hempstead, New York, is designed to is to enhance the matriculation of underrepresented in medicine (URM) students to the Zucker School of Medicine. The three-year, summer intensive, academic enrichment program provides high-achieving college students interested in a career in medicine an opportunity for direct matriculation to the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell.  Visit https://medicine.hofstra.edu/pipeline/zpp-overview.html for more details.
• The Still Scholars Program at A.T. Still University Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine offers early medical school acceptance to qualified students who apply at the end of the spring semester of sophomore year. The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) is waived for students who are conditionally accepted into the Still Scholars Program.  Go to https://www.atsu.edu/ for more details.
• The Promoting Recruitment Opportunities in Medicine with Individual Study Experiences (PROMISE) Program is an early assurance program for students from Mississippi who are underrepresented in medicine. Students apply during the spring of their sophomore year. Students who complete the program and meet the metrics established by the executive admissions committee of the medical school will be eligible for a position at the U of Mississippi School of Medicine. Visit https://www.umc.edu/somfor additional details.

Partnership Opportunities: If you are interested in exploring partnership opportunities between your institution and Xavier University of Louisiana (e.g. early/preferential admission programs, research programs, enrichment programs, scholarships, etc.), please contact Xavier’s Office of Academic Affairs. 

Scholarship Opportunities 

The following opportunities are available to eligible XU Premeds:

• JW Carmichael, Jr Pre-Medical Scholarship
• Ochsner Health System Medical School Scholarship for LSU School of Medicine in Shreveport