Students seeking advice about their pre-medical paths or a letter of recommendation to medical school have recently seen a new face in the Health Careers Office. Andrew Simmons, a former dean at Brandeis University, took over as associate dean for health careers in early March, after former Associate Dean Robert Ripley announced his retirement last semester.
Simmons served as a class dean and the pre-medical dean at Brandeis, in Waltham, Mass. He began his tenure there as a Residential Life hall director while he was completing his Ph.D. in education at Boston College. He then worked for the academic affairs office, where one of his responsibilities was to help draft letters of recommendation for students applying to medical school, a duty that eventually led to his current position.
He credits his entrance into advising to his ability to write quickly and "decently," he said, but likes advising for other reasons. "I love working with students to map out what they're going to do," he said.
Regarding pre-medical advising specifically, "I think we all agree that it's important to participate in helping to pick the nation's doctors," he said.
A graduate of Hampshire College, where he studied history and music, Simmons had no formal science education before beginning his advising career. He wrote his doctoral dissertation on pre-medical students' attitudes about liberal education, and likes working at Brown because the "unstructured curriculum attracts a certain type of student," he said.
Simmons' appointment was the result of a nationwide search, according to Dean of the College Paul Armstrong. "He emerged in the national search as the very best, and we're very happy to have him," Armstrong said.
As for Simmons, he was enthusiastic about working at Brown. "I thought, 'Wow, that would be great if I could get (the job),' and lo and behold, here I am," he said.
Simmons came to Brown in early March and spent his first few weeks working here three days a week and at Brandeis two days a week. "I really had to hit the ground running at Brown," he said.
Ripley's announcement last semester that he would retire caused "a lot of anxiety from students and parents," Armstrong said. In the months before Simmons started working, a team of associate deans and faculty members were in charge of pre-medical advising.
Ripley took fewer vacation days than he had planned to help organize the effort, Armstrong said. "We owe him a great debt," he added.
Despite the anxiety, there were no complaints during the interim months.
"I was committed to making sure that Brown students had the very best pre-medical advising, because they deserve it," Armstrong said.
Since Simmons has started working full-time in his new position, things have been running smoothly, according to both Armstrong and Simmons. A general meeting was held last week to introduce Simmons to pre-medical students, and students have been coming to meet with him as well, Simmons said.
As for the future of pre-medical advising at Brown, there may be some changes. Simmons has spent time "assessing what Dean Ripley had done," and assessing the program in general. "I always spend time taking stock before doing anything," he said.
Armstrong said that though there may be changes, the program has been successful in the past. "You don't want to make changes in a winning formula," he said.
Simmons said he is considering changing the way students are assessed for letters of recommendation. He would like to collaborate more with faculty members. He also wants to explore ways to improve advising for first-years and sophomores.
"I'm impressed with the amount of independence (Brown) students seem to show," Simmons said. "It's a really dynamic and activist group ... which is indicative of good physicians."
