The beginning of the spring 2017 semester marked a return to campus for students but also  for recently hired Pre-Medical Advisor Wesley Schaub, who began advising pre-medical students at Case Western Reserve University this semester. The position was previously held by Steven Scherger, who is now the Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Studies.

After working at CWRU as the Director of Greek Life Office for 23 years, Schaub moved to the east coast in 2011. He came back to CWRU about a week before the spring semester started so that he could settle into his new workplace.

Considering his past work experience, Schaub feels confident in advising students. He said he has had “a lot of experience working with students and helping students resolve problems and focus on what they want to do.”

As the past Director of Greek Life, Schaub seems to have already done many of the things required for his position, in which work includes giving help and advice to pre-medical students and writing letters of recommendation.

“I already had the same sorts of experiences that I am doing right now when it comes to working with the pre-medical students, it’s just that they came to me in a different capacity,” said Schaub.

As a pre-medical advisor, Schaub knows that students hoping to go into medicine can be anxious about the process. He hopes to “help ease some of that anxiety and help them get over some of the frustration they might face when trying to fill out that application.”

Schaub also wants to help students find the areas of their application where they could improve and help fill those parts in.

He is optimistic about the pre-medical track at CWRU. According to him, although pre-medicine is challenging, CWRU students have an advantage compared to students from other schools: CWRU’s medical school offers students research and shadowing opportunities. According to Schaub, this exposure to the field of medicine will allow students to “round themselves as applicants.

“It’s never too early to start reviewing information,” Schaub said, offering a final piece of advice to pre-medical students.
He explained that a lot of times students wait until the application process to start working on their applications. However, he thinks that there are many ways prior to the application process for students “to reflect on what they have done as a student and reflect on their experiences and begin to formulate how those experiences would make them a good doctor.”