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Health Careers Opportunity Program

Apply for the Health Professions Committee Letter

A committee letter is a letter of recommendation on behalf of the Fresno State Health Professions Committee, which consist of faculty who teach many students with a pre-health interest. Students are encouraged to obtain a committee letter, as it is another letter of recommendation that is meant to emphasize your qualifications as an applicant.

Application for Health Professions Committee Letter

The application period is now open! 

Deadline:
May 31, 2022

Download Application

Note:  Download application and "save as" with your last & first name and use Adobe Acrobat.

Download Free Adobe Acrobat

MCAT scores will be required for students applying for a Committee Letter in 2022. 

COMMITTEE LETTER ELIGIBILITY

To be eligible for a Committee Letter:

  • Applicants must be or have been an undergraduate or graduate student at Fresno State.
  • Meet the submission deadlines of the HPC letter application process.
  • If your GPA is below 3.0 and/or MCAT below 500, please contact Dr. Larry Riley and/or the HCOP office to discuss your HPC application.
     

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Download application.
  • Read instructions completely.
  • Gather required documents.
  • Complete application and submit by due date with all required documents.

The Health Professions Committee has a Reference Request Guide to provide to each of your letter writers. The letter of evaluation guideline provides your letter writer with: where to send your letter to, what items to include in your letter and how to address your letter thoroughly.

In addition, if you are applying to medical school, you may provide your letter writer the AAMC Guidelines for Writing a Letter of Evaluation for a Medical School Applicant.

The HPC will not include the support letters with the HPC letter submitted to professional schools/applications services unless you explicitly request that we do so in your application.

If you plan to request that your support letters be sent with the HPC letter, please make sure that your letter writers are aware that their letters will be sent to professional schools. Therefore, ask your letter writer to submit your LOE on letterhead.  Please note that only letters used by the committee will be forwarded on to professional schools. On very rare occasions, the HPC will receive reference letters that do not support the application, and which are not used in the development of the HPC letter. To maintain the confidentiality of the process, we will not be able to tell you if any of your letters fall into this category and were not sent on to professional schools/applications services.

The Health Professions Committee (HPC) is comprised of various faculty and staff at California State University, Fresno who are skilled in an array of different backgrounds ranging from the science, math, and English professors to Deans of colleges. The role of the HPC is to compose letters of recommendation for students who are applying for professional school. The Committee letter is designed to enhance the applicant’s chances of gaining admission into the applicant’s desired health professional school program.

Health Professions Committee

Joy J. Goto, Ph.D.

Chair and Professor, Chemistry Department
 
Education: 
B.S., Chemistry, UC. Davis
Ph.D., Chemistry, UCLA
 
E-mail: JGoto@csufresno.edu

Alam S. Hasson, Ph.D.

Associate Dean, College of Science and Mathematics
 
Education: 
B.S. Chemistry, Oxford University
Ph.D., Chemistry, Birminham University
 
E-mail: ahasson@csufresno.edu

Vadim Keyser, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy
 
Education: 
B.S. Philosophy/Biology, University of Maryland
Ph.D., Philosophy, UC Davis
 
E-mail:  vkeyser@csufresno.edu

Christopher R. Meyer, Ph.D.

Dean, College of Science and Mathematics
 
Education: 
B.S. Chemistry, CSU Chico
Ph.D., Biochemistry, UC Riverside
 
E-mail: cmeyer@csufresno.edu

Larry G. Riley, Ph.D.

Professor, Department of Biology
 
Education: 
B.S. and M.S. Biology, Fresno State
Ph.D., Zoology, University of Hawaii
 
E-mail: lriley@csufresno.edu

Brynn Saito, MA, MFA

Assistant Professor, Department of English
 
Education:
B.A., Philosophy, UC Berkeley
M.A., Religious Studies, New York University
M.F.A., Creative Writing, Sarah Lawrence College
 
E-Mail: bsaito@csufresno.edu

Tricia Van Laar, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Department of Biology
 
Education: 
B.S., Biology, California State University, Stanislaus 
M.S. Biology, University of the Pacific
Ph.D., Cell Molecular Biology, University of Texas San Antonio
 
E-mail: tvanlaar@csufresno.edu

Ellen Woo, Ph.D., ABPP-CN

Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Fresno State
Associate Adjunct Professor, Department of Psychiatry, UCSF
 
Education: 
B.A., Psychology, California State University, Fresno 
M.A. Psychology, California State University, Fresno 
Ph.D., Clinical Psychology (Neuropsychology), Washington State University
Postdoctoral Fellowship, Clinical Neuropsychology, UCLA
 

How Many Letters should I get?

The total number of letters that you can submit varies with the professional school and the application service. It is your responsibility to research the guidelines for the profession to which you are applying. Typically you should include letters from:

1-2 Health Professionals
2 Science Professors
1 non-science Professor


If applicable you could also include letters from:

Research advisor
Director of Volunteer Services
Community member who knows you well
Employment Supervisors
If you receive a Health Professions Committee evaluation this will, in some cases, count as one of your letters

It is important to note that Allopathic programs will accept up to 10 letters of evaluation, although it is not necessary to submit that many. Please contact your centralized application services to learn about their letter of evaluation requirements. Other institutions require additional items that need to be attached to each letter of evaluation, so please check the requirements of each institution.

What to bring to the meeting with your letter writer: 

The student should bring a copy of your resume or curriculum vitae to give to your letter writer and assist them with composing the letter of reference. A copy of your personal statement is a nice addition to add to the other documents that you are providing your letter writer. Place all of the documents that you are providing your letter writer in a folder with your name on the front and the desired due date. Due dates are important as they allow you to follow up directly with your letter writer after the date has passed.

During your meeting with your letter writer, inform them about your desire to enter into a Health Professional program and what makes you a good candidate. They will often address this in their letter and thus greatly strengthen your evaluation.

The Health Professions Committee has a Reference Request Guide to provide to each of your letter writers. The letter of evaluation guideline provides your letter writer with: where to send your letter to, what items to include in your letter and how to address your letter.

In addition you may provide your letter writer the AAMC Guidelines for Writing a Letter of Evaluation for a Medical School Applicant. 

Personal Statement

GOAL: For admissions committee members to understand who you are as a person and why you have chosen your selected profession.

Please follow the character count the professional application system has provided.

Should address the following:

  • Your motivation for professional school
  • Your story – what makes you unique
  • Your qualifications and experiences

Be honest! If you lie or exaggerate about an experience, you may find yourself in an awkward position when asked in an interview to describe.

Take time to do the following:

  • Prepare and gather information to include (e.g., your resume, journal, etc)
  • Draft
  • Review and proofread
  • Get feedback from the Health Professions Advising Office, Career Center, and/or Writing center
    Finalize

AAMC (AMCAS) Essay Resources

AMCAS Applicant Guide (see page 61)

On Campus Resources

If you would like assistance with writing your personal statement, the following on-campus resources are available:

The Fresno State Writing Center

To schedule an appointment please visit the Writing Center’s website https://fresnostate.edu/artshum/writingcenter/ or call the Writing Center at (559) 278-0334.

Career Development Center:

Please visit the Career Center’s website for additional information http://www.fresnostate.edu/studentaffairs/careers/

Schedule an appointment with Dr. Riley, by email at lriley@csufresno.edu