Experience Your Calling: Touro Helps Undergrads Explore Healthcare Careers Up Close
Two Immersive Programs Let Future Dentists and Pharmacists Gain Clarity, Confidence, and Hands-On Skills
Thanks to Touro’s Pre-Dental Experience and Pre-PharmD Summer Boot Camp, undergrads can now “try on” a career—getting hands-on experience, guidance from students and faculty, and an in-depth look at the field before committing to grad school.
Imagine if you were able to take a career in healthcare for a test drive—getting hands-on experience in your chosen field before investing thousands of dollars and countless hours in your education. At Touro University, that’s exactly the opportunity we’re offering students, thanks to two innovative programs created for potential candidates of Touro College of Dental Medicine (TCDM) and Touro College of Pharmacy (TCOP).
Rebecca Block, DDS, is a clinical professor at Touro College of Dental Medicine and the creator of the Pre-Dental Experience Program. She launched this unique training practicum four years ago as a way to help undergraduate students who are considering dental school to get a better sense of the field. “I wanted students to be able to practice the procedures so they could get some clarity about the profession,” Dr. Block explains.
Over the course of four days, participants attend classes that highlight different dental specialties, interact with current Touro Dental students and perform hands-on simulations in the dental lab. Along with using advanced technologies like the digital scanner, students practice procedures like filling a tooth and taking impressions—giving them a firsthand experience of working in dentistry. “Even if you were to shadow a dentist, they’re not going to let you drill!” laughs Dr. Block.
There are also opportunities for students to learn more about the application process and ask questions, including a town hall with the director of admissions and a Q&A session with current students. As Dr. Block says, “It’s nice for current dental students to give back and realize how much they’ve learned, it’s a great way to showcase what Touro has to offer, and it helps undergrads solidify if they want to go into this field.”
Undergrads interested in studying pharmacy have a similar option with Touro’s RxPLORE Summer Academy for College Students, a pre-PharmD boot camp launched in 2023 by Dr. Bupendra Shah, associate professor at TCOP. The three-day program, funded by a $3 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), is open to college freshmen and sophomores and provides what Dr. Shah calls “a hands-on experience to completely understand what it’s like to attend pharmacy school.”
Limited to around 20 students per year, the program is hosted in the new, state-of-the-art campus facilities where Touro Pharmacy students are trained, and participants are joined by both faculty and current PharmD students. Together, they practice skills like drug compounding and patient care, including CPR and taking vital signs, and get an authentic sense of campus life and the welcoming, family environment at Touro College of Pharmacy.
The program also teaches participants about the kinds of careers they could pursue after earning a PharmD. “There are over 150 career paths for pharmacists, so there’s room for everyone,” Dr. Shah shares. “Pharmacists are known to work in roles where they interact with patients on a daily basis, providing medications, vaccines and counseling, but they can also work in roles with no patient contact—like compounding or in the pharmaceutical industry. We really emphasize that you will have a flexible career portfolio and a pathway to make a difference in the lives of everyone around us.”
While both programs are still relatively new, the feedback from students has been very positive. Megan Ennabi, who attended the Pre-Dental Program and is now a third-year student at TCDM, shares her experience: “The program was instrumental in helping me understand the practical aspects of a dental career, which made me even more excited to apply to Touro,” she says. “I got to participate in some really exciting hands-on activities—and I feel well prepared for my future career because of this amazing experience.”
Both Dr. Block and Dr. Shah hope to expand these programs in the future—possibly making similar opportunities available for high school students. In the meantime, they’re happy to be helping students feel more confident about their future careers. “Some participants of our Pre-Dental Program are current TCDM students, but others realized dentistry wasn’t the right field,” shares Dr. Block. “Either way, coming in and getting that clarity is invaluable. It gives a lot of good feelings to everyone involved.”
