Health Care

Newman parishioner Peter Gilligan is available to advise all pre-health professionals on the graduate school admissions process. He can meet in person or by Zoom, over lunch, or while out for a walk - whatever best fits your schedule.

Peter Gilligan served as a pre-health advisor at UNC from 2018-23, working with 500 students, who were primary pre-MD, pre-MD/PhD, and pre-PA. He has also served on UNC's MD and MD/PhD admissions committees for 25 years. His teaching career includes 30 years teaching in UNC’s summer MED program, 40 years teaching medical students, residents and fellows, and helping develop Bio 117- Considering Health Professions.

Peter can help you to understand and make decisions about the journey to careers in health care including application and admission processes, when to take the MCATs or GREs, and what PA and Med schools are feasible for you. He will gladly review your personal statement, offer advice on who to ask for letters of recommendation, provide trusted near-peer med and PA advisors, and help prepare you for interviews.

You can learn more about Peter's understanding of the role and importance of mentors in this article that he published with the American Society for Microbiology.
THE MENTOR'S ROLE IN DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION IN THE SCIENCES

All are welcome to contact Peter at [email protected]. 

And if you are interested in becoming a physician, please read this first:

So You Want to Go to Medical School

If you are willing to talk with undergraduate and graduate students about your work - or to serve as a mentor - please contact Peter Gilligan at [email protected]

Here are is excellent material for reflection for those considering careers in healthcare professions:

Don't miss reading:

Grit by Angela Duckworth
Being Mortal by Atul Gawande
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi   

Also highly recommended:

Something for the Pain by Paul Austin (an ER doctor in Durham; went to UNC)
The Road to Character by David Brooks
The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande
How Doctors Think by Jerome Kroopman 
You Can Stop Humming Now by Daniela Lamas 
Cobra Event by Richard Preston
Mortal Lesson: Notes on the Art of Surgery by Richard Selzer
Slow Medicine by Victoria Sweet 
Lives of a Cell by Lewis Thomas
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Black Man in White Coat by Damon Tweedy (graduate of Duke Med)