5 Questions with Brittney Acre

Brittney is a senior at CU-Boulder, who is originally from Arvada, Colorado. She is a Psychology major at Boulder and is also working toward a certificate in Neuroscience. She is an Undergraduate Research Assistant at the CUChange Lab where she assists in conducting transdisciplinary research to explore the psychological, physiological, and genetic factors that are linked with health behavior. At CUChange Lab Brittney does data entry, passes out consent forms, and explains to participants what they will be doing in the research experiments. Brittney’s specific interests are in addiction research.

1.     What are your career goals?

My ultimate goal is to become a physician and hopefully be a part of Doctors Without Borders. In order to make this dream possible I am working toward getting into medical school as well as going into the Peace Corps after finishing my undergraduate career in May 2013.

2.     What are some things you have done to build up your resume?

In order to build up my resume I have volunteered and gotten involved on campus throughout my college career. I am a part of the American Medical Student Association (AMSA), Neuroscience Club, Psi Chi International Honor Society in Psychology, Phi Sigma Pi Honor Fraternity, and an International Student Volunteers student representative on campus. These clubs and organizations have been great resources not only for building my resume, but also for making friendships with peers who have similar interests.

3.     Can you tell us specifically about the International Student Volunteers (ISV) program and how you found it?

International Student Volunteers (ISV) is an organization that promotes volunteering overseas (Africa, Costa Rica, Thailand, Ecuador, ect). I traveled to South Africa and the Dominican Republic to help build a school for children and teach them English and basic hygiene. My job as an ISV student rep is to promote the program on campus. It was through another ISV student rep, who talked to my biology class and sent around flyers for interested students, that I actually found this program when I was a freshman. This is an amazing program for people who are willing to take risks and have a passion for helping others.

4.     What was your recent experience at the volunteer fair, coordinated by the Volunteer Resource Center?

The volunteer fair was very helpful because it showcases the many volunteer opportunities available, and that there is something for everyone. Some organizations that sparked my interest were the Peace Corps and the Women’s Health Center. The volunteer fair was a great way to get more information about different organizations as well as how to get started in volunteer work.

5.     How has pre-health advising been helpful for you?  How do they work?

Pre-health advising has been the most helpful utility I have used in order to stay on track for getting into medical school. There is a pre-health website that provides useful information about the admissions process, committee letters, MCAT prep, and medical school prerequisites. Before meeting with my pre-health advisor I had no idea how many steps are involved in applying to medical school. My advisor helped me make a timeline to organize when to take certain classes (Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Physics) and start working on committee letters and MCAT prep. Without the pre-health advising center I would have felt lost during the application process.