Delta Omega Alpha is an organization for students interested in health care. This organization hopes to benefit students going to or thinking about going to medical school, veterinary school, podiatry school, pharmacy school, optometry school, nursing school, physical therapy and occupational therapy. DOA has a wide variety of speakers come in to talk to members about attending different medical schools. From physical therapy to veterinarian school, DOA speakers cover it all. The speakers mostly cover things like how to apply to medical school, requirements students need, scholarships that are available and how to make your application stand out. 

“We are a pre-professional honor society aimed at helping students achieve an advanced health care career,” said sophomore nursing major and DOA secretary Caitlyn Hoerner. “We have members interested in medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, nurse practitioner, physician’s assistant and many more. We bring in speakers from all around the country to tell students of these and similar careers.”

Vice President of DOA Savannah Klier was recently accepted into LSU Medical School. The organization visited LSU last year and hopes to arrange another trip like this.

“Last semester’s field trip to LSU Medical School was an incredible experience, and we’re working on arranging this semester’s field trip, hopefully to tour a Physician’s Assistant School,” said Hoerner.

DOA does not just offer guest speakers, but they have numbers of events and community service options for its members to get more involved in the community.

“This semester we’ve already had a representative from LSU’s School of Veterinary Medicine, and next meeting we will hear from Southeastern’s own nursing school,” said Hoerner. “We also have a ton of extra events, including community service, to get our members more involved in the community.” 

Sophomore biology major with a concentration in integrative biology Andrew Killebrew finds joining DOA to be beneficial.

“DOA has personally benefitted me by helping me get into the volunteer program at North Oaks Health System,” said Killebrew. “I was sitting in on a presentation from a faculty member from LSU Medical school, and we were discussing what builds a strong application for a potential applicant. The obvious topics were addressed such as MCAT score, GPA and also research, but my ears perked up when the presenter discussed the importance of volunteer hours.”

After the guest speaker’s presentation Killebrew spoke with the LSU Medical professor and was provided with information that would help him gain volunteer hours.

“I spoke with the presenter after the presentation and asked him where I should go to become involved in the volunteer community, and he informed me that most clinics and hospitals would be willing to place me in a program to be a volunteer,” said Killebrew. “This was all it took as I took this information that was provided to me from the speaker at our DOA event and went to North Oaks to enroll into their volunteer program. Since that meeting I have accumulated over one hundred volunteer hours along with priceless information from the many helpful and friendly doctors I have had the good fortune to meet.”

Joining this organization is about helping future medical students feel confident and informed. Students also can make connections and friends while being a part of something they are interested in. 

“At the end of the day, we just hope that providing these speakers and events allows members to make a confident and informed decision when planning for their future and career, and hopefully build some connections along the way,” said Hoerner.

For any student interested in joining DOA, it is not too late. Contact an officer at [email protected].