The fair was organized by the IU Health Professions and Prelaw Center and co-sponsored by many IU departments.
The representatives ranged from direct patient care, laboratory work, administration and information technology and had booths at the fair for students to explore their educational and career options, according to a press release.
Assistant Director of the IU Health Professions and Prelaw Center Rachel Tolen said the University wants to give students the chance to learn about a wide variety of health careers.
“We want students to learn about health care careers they haven’t encountered before,” she said.
Tolen said in a press release current college students grew up in a time when the whole country was engaged in the future of health care.
“Many seem to be drawn to health care careers because they want to directly make a difference in the lives of others,” she said in the release. “However, many initially think only of the most prominent professions and don’t realize how many career options are available.”
She also said the fair acts as a great opportunity for students to learn about professional development.
“We’re trying to give students a better understanding of not only healthcare fields but also what it takes to get accepted into them,” she said. “They’ll learn about different admissions processes and how to be a competitive applicant.”
Dan Kellenberger, assistant director of admissions, marketing and recruitment for the College of Osteopathic Medicine at Marian University in Indianapolis, said the fair is essential for organizations trying to build relationships and educate students about the different programs they offer.
“It’s important for students to get an early start in preparing for the future over the latter part of their college career,” he said.
Kellenberger said Marian has been to the fair multiple times in the past and it gets better each year.
“IU is one of our top schools for our incoming classes each year,” he said. “This fair is important for us to inform our future applicants about our programs and our admission processes.”
IU sophomore Dalounny Homsab said she attended the fair, where she became informed on the admissions processes for medical and dental programs and got a head start for her future.
“I want to get a feel for which program I would fit in best with,” she said. “Getting an idea of the school in general and what their campus is like is also a factor of exploring the programs.”
Homsab also said she wanted to gain a better perspective when it came to applying for the programs themselves compared to other applicants.
Tolen said their philosophy is to help each student define what he or she wants to achieve through a health care career.
