Meet With Us

Should I Meet With a Peer Advisor or a Staff Advisor?

Reasons to Drop-In With a Pre-Health Peer Advisor

• You are exploring or currently unsure of which health career is right for you
• You are a prospective, first-year, or newly enrolled student interested in a career in healthcare
• Registration/course scheduling assistance (primarily for prerequisite coursework)
• Find out how to get health-related, leadership, community service, and/or research experience
• Entrance exam preparation and information
• Admissions requirements for particular programs and schools

Reasons to Schedule an Appointment With a Staff Advisor

• Personal statement assistance and review
• Application assistance and review
• Grades/GPA concerns for health professional schools
• Post-baccalaureate programs and gap year options

Peer Advisors (Drop-ins Only)

Peer advisors are upper-division, pre-health students who can assist you with planning health profession prerequisites, finding and choosing experiences on campus and in SLO, and connect you with resources for test preparation. Having been in your shoes before, they are a great resource for all first-year, second-year, or newly interested pre-health students. They are available on a drop-in basis (15-20 minutes) during the hours listed below.

Peer Advising is available only during weeks 1-10 of fall, winter and spring quarters, and limited hours over the summer term.

Drop-In Hours (In-Person and Virtual Options)

Each peer advisor is well-equipped to advise students from any major on any of the health professions. You do NOT have to meet with an advisor that has the same major or career interest as you.

• Drop-in hours are fluid and may change from week to week. Check the below grid at the beginning of each week to confirm when the peer advisors are available.
• The hours below marked with *two asterisks around them* and bolded in red are virtual.
• Hours without asterisks, and without the red color are in person only.

SUMMER QUARTER DROP-IN HOURS (subject to change)

**virtual hours**

Peer Advisor	MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY
Cassidy Serino Kinesiology, Pre-PA	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Sarah Ternus Biology, Pre-Med	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Sherry Lin Public Health, Pre-RN	N/A	1-2PM	**10-11AM**	N/A	N/A

PLEASE only use the Zoom during hours highlighted in red and with asterisks! Zoom Meeting ID: 858 7839 1994 (https://calpoly.zoom.us/j/85878391994)

Sarah Ternus Biology Pre-Med

Sherry Lin Public Health Pre-PA

Staff Advisors​ (Planned Appointments Only)

The pre-health and academic staff advisors are available to students when they reach the point of being ready to apply to health professions’ school(s). Typically you would meet with a staff advisor as a third/fourth-year or alumni student who has completed their pre-requisite coursework, accumulated a resume of experiences, taken their entrance exam(s), and have already met with a peer advisor. Staff advisors can help you assess how competitive of an applicant you are and make recommendations for proceeding. To schedule an appointment with a staff advisor, you can click on their name or photo below or click here to schedule with the next available advisor.

NEW for 2025-2026: All staff advisors meet with students interested in pursuing medicine, physician assistant, and nursing careers. For all other health profession careers, advisors are assigned to specific careers to support students pursuing those career pathways.

All Pre-Health Advisors: Medicine (MD/DO), Nursing (RN, NP etc.), Physician Assistant (PA)

• Kristi (Athletic Training; Naturopathic Medicine)
• Anya (Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Podiatric Medicine)
• Laura - Out for summer and will return in September. (Genetic Counseling, Public Health, Speech Language Pathology & Audiology)
• Annastatius (Pharmacy, Optometry, Clinical Lab Science) 
• Shonna (Chiropractic Medicine, Dentistry, Veterinary Medicine)

 

Kristi Weddige

Anya Bergman

Laura Wilson

Annastatius Engvall

Shonna Davis Clarke

Application & Personal Statement Appointments

Appointment Booking Details:

• Check the appointment link frequently for upcoming appointments released throughout the week.
• You may schedule up to two weeks out.
• Because appointments often fill up, it is best to plan two weeks in advance. Keep in mind important deadlines!
• Instructions for virtual appointments are included in your appointment confirmation email.

Application Appointments:

It is important to plan to meet with a staff advisor the quarter before you are applying to schools. Schedule an appointment up to 2 weeks in advance with one of our staff advisors to discuss test preparation, interviews, financing applications, choosing schools, and more. You may also visit us at our virtual drop-ins if you are unable to find an appointment time that works.

Personal Statement Appointments:

It is important to plan to meet with a staff advisor the quarter before you are applying to schools. If you would like to have a staff advisor look over and review your personal statement, or even just brainstorm ideas for a statement, please schedule an appointment here or visit us at virtual drop-ins. Email anything you have written and would like reviewed by your advisor, at least 24 hours in advance of your appointment.

Appointment Cancellation:

As a courtesy to our office and your peers, if you need to cancel or reschedule your advising appointment, use the link in your Calendly confirmation email or give us a call. We prefer at least 24 hours advance notice, but we know last minute things come up and that's okay.

Find Us

Pre-Health Career Advising is available for all Cal Poly students interested in health professions, regardless of their major.

• Instagram: @cp.prehealth

Pre-Health Canvas

For current Cal Poly students, the Pre-Health Advisors maintain a Canvas webpage which contains many additional resources to this website, including presentations, handouts, sample personal statements, and interview feedback. To sign up for access to the Pre-Health Canvas page, please email prehealth@calpoly.edu with your Cal Poly email address. Once enrolled, you can access the page via your Canvas Dashboard.