The College's pre-health advising program will now have to operate with a smaller staff as assistant director of Career Services Kim Sauerwein, a longtime advisor for pre-health students, prepares to leave the College next week. The program has historically suffered from limited resources and personnel, biology professor Lee Witters, who volunteers for the program, told The Dartmouth.
Although Sauerwein's departure will require more work from the other pre-health advisors, Witters, who also teaches at Dartmouth Medical School, said he expects that students will not experience a decline in the quality of advising.
"We're losing a valuable advisor, but we can do it with what we've got," Witters said. "We don't see that this is going to weaken the help that we can give to every single student at Dartmouth who is thinking about a career in the health professions."
Sauerwein could not be reached for comment by press time.
Stacy Barton, acting assistant director of Career Services, has been working with Sauerwein to prepare to take over her duties, Witters said, although it has not yet been determined whether Barton will become a full-time pre-health advisor or will advise part-time along with her other duties.
Until now, Barton has primarily been involved in providing advice to students about job and internship searches, according to the Career Services web site. Barton could not be reached for comment by press time.
Sauerwein will be leaving Dartmouth to serve as associate director of the Career Development office at Colby-Sawyer College in New London, N.H., according to Witters.
The move was influenced by Sauerwein's personal and professional concerns, he said.
"Part of it was, I think she's been here a while and she's looking for professional advancement," he said. "I think she wanted to see some things change here and things were changing slowly."
The new position is also "closer to home" for Sauerwein, who lives in New London with her child and husband, who teaches at Colby-Sawyer, Witters said.
Students interviewed by The Dartmouth said that Sauerwein has been an important contact for students seeking guidance in their studies and health careers.
"She just did wonderful things for the program," said Danielle Murray '09, who consulted with Sauerwein throughout her studies at Dartmouth and is currently applying to medical school. "I think it'll be difficult to maintain a really high standard, so the next person just needs to be prepared to give the same amount of energy that [Sauerwein] has given. But I think it can be maintained."
To fill the advising gap left in the wake of Sauerwein's departure, Witters said he plans to commit more time to advising and schedule additional walk-in hours. Developing a working long-term program, however, will take the dedication of additional resources to health-related programs, he said.
Witters said that he and Barton have also met with students from the Class of 2011 who are now entering the application process for medical school, to ensure they are prepared for the transition process. The students said they were comfortable with the level of advising that would be available over the short term, Witters said.
Along with a wide-ranging external review of Career Services conducted last year, Sauerwein's departure acted as a catalyst that accelerated discussion about the future course of the program, Witters said.
The program is in need of not only increased monetary resources which Witters noted would be difficult to obtain, given the College's strained economic situation but also additional advisors to students interested in health-related careers. Pre-health is an area in which the College has noticeably fewer advisors per student than other peer institutions, he said.
The lack of advisors is even more acute as roughly one-third of career advising conducted by Career Services involves health-related occupations, he said.
With the arrival of a noted medical researcher and global health advocate in the form of College President Jim Yong Kim, more students may consider Dartmouth as a top choice to begin a career in health, which Witters said would make an expansion of advising resources necessary.
"Access really is the biggest issue," he said. "When our term is so short, if you wait two or three weeks to get an appointment, it may be too late."
