Fischer to share her experiences at Georgia Southern Scholars Day Feb. 23-24

High school seniors invited to the Feb. 23-24 Scholars Day will get encouragement and inspiration from Amanda Fischer, a senior pre-med biology major who has already been accepted by the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. She’s headed for PCOM’s Georgia campus in Atlanta next fall. Fischer will speak at the banquet planned for students and their parents Friday evening, Feb. 23.

‘Scholars Day is an opportunity for students planning to come to Georgia Southern to interview for significant academic, leadership, and honors scholarships,” Fischer said. ‘It’s also a chance for students and their parents to ask questions, tour the campus, and learn about interesting opportunities”for example, the Study Abroad Program.”

Fischer, who graduated from Claxton (Ga.) High School in 2003, is a self-proclaimed generalist. She started out with an undeclared major, considered music education and physical therapy, and ended up in the Paulson College of Science and Technology. Her goal after medical school is to return to rural Georgia to serve as a primary care physician in a family practice”maybe even in her hometown.

‘I’ve always done a little bit of everything,” she said, noting involvement in the Honors Program, the Pre-health Professionals, Collegiate 4-H, and five honor societies including Gamma Beta Phi and Omicron Delta Kappa. She sang in the Women’s Chorale and University Singers, and has worked on campus as a student assistant in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences during her years at Georgia Southern.

In 2006 Fischer was one of eight pre-med students invited to take part in ‘Pathway to Medical School,” a four-week summer internship designed to provide 160 hours of structured primary care experience: 100 hours of clinical shadowing and 60 hours of primary care research. The program was overseen by the Southwest Georgia Family Medicine Residency at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, and Albany Area Primary Healthcare.

‘Part of the summer program was conducting a research project on a specific disease intervention. With a research partner, I assessed the efficiency of cancer screening in Baker County. We presented our research at the Georgia Academy of Family Physicians meeting in November,” said Fischer. ‘I didn’t even realize it was competitive, but it turned out that we won first place!”

In her Scholars Day speech, Fischer plans to touch on her experiences gained at Georgia Southern, such as participation in study abroad, student organizations, campus involvement, and relationships with mentors. ‘My goal is to encourage all the incoming students to come involved outside of the classroom,” she said, ‘and make their college experience the best it can be.”

For more information about Scholars Day, contact Georgia Southern’s Office of Admissions at 912-681-5391 or go to http://admissions.georgiasouthern.edu/index.htm.