In the spring of 2006, a new pre-medical honor society will be established on campus called Alpha Epsilon Delta Premedical honor society (ΑΕΔ). ΑΕΔ is a nation-wide organization made up of pre-Health Sciences students. This honor society is community-oriented and is focused primarily on volunteer work, both medical and non-medical related. To be eligible for membership in Alpha Epsilon Delta, a student must be engaged in courses leading to the study of health sciences careers (i.e. medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, optometry, pharmacy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, cardiopulmonary science, etc.), completed at least three semesters of premedical work with a general scholastic average of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale, have an average GPA of 3.2 in sciences (biology, chemistry, math, physics), rank in the upper 35 percent of the class in general scholarship, and be of sound character.
Dr .Paul Sisson, the newly-appointed Dean of the College of Sciences, was responsible for initiating the process of forming a chapter of ΑΕΔ at LSUS. Upon inquiring Dr. Sisson on why he decided to look into establishing an LSUS chapter of ΑΕΔ, he stated, "As I prepared to step in as Dean of the College of Sciences, I knew that providing a deep level of support for our pre-Health Care students was going to be one of my priorities." To obtain more information about what work would be involved in establishing a pre-medical honor society, Dr. Sisson met several times with Dr. Scott Kennedy, the Assistant Dean of Admissions of Louisiana State University School of Medicine in Shreveport, several faculty members at LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, and Dr. Vincent Marsala, the Chancellor of Louisiana State University in Shreveport. After making a final decision to begin the process of establishing a chapter of Alpha Epsilon Delta at LSUS, Dr. Sisson stated, "the most important task was to identify the best faculty member to do the necessary research and pull the right people together so that our chapter application would be approved. I succeeded beyond my wildest dreams with my choice of Tara Williams-Hart."
Dr. Williams-Hart, who earned her Ph.D in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport in December 2003, is the new pre-medical/pre-dental advisor for the College of Sciences and currently teaches Principles of Genetics, Principles of Genetics Lab, General Biology for non-science majors, and General Biology Lab. Upon inquiring Dr. Williams-Hart about what major activities ΑΕΔ will participate in, she stated, "ΑΕΔ will conduct public service activities to serve the LSUS, local and national communities. Also, ΑΕΔ members will participate in forums, formal internships, preceptorships, and mentored medical, dental and allied health professional opportunities to create more extra-curricular training for pre-health sciences majors. We plan to design activities to educate and prepare students by conducting a seminar series with local hospitals. ΑΕΔ will promote interactions between students and health professionals during discussions at regular meetings featuring specialty and generalist viewpoints in medicine." Dr. Williams-Hart and the selected officers of the provisional chapter of Alpha Epsilon Delta at LSUS have been working diligently on getting the chapter approved and getting everything organized so the honor society will be nationally installed in the spring semester. Dr. Sisson is very impressed by the progress Dr. Williams-Hart and her officers have made and stated, "I think Dr. Williams-Hart is probably setting records within ΑΕΔ circles in how fast she's accomplishing things. And to match her own great abilities, she has identified and brought together a group of gifted students that I think must also be setting records." The officers of the provisional chapter of ΑΕΔ at LSUS are President Young Noh, Vice-President of Assembly Shantelle Ceaser, Vice-President of Public Service Sarah Miller, Vice-President of Records Mary Katherine Baker, Vice-President of Finances Rosa Golden, Historian Nuengruthai (Jennifer) Chimvai, Scalpel Reporter Michelle McCown, Parliamentarian Owen Windham, Assembly representative Segalit Rivera, Webmaster John Cannon, and Social Activities Coordinator Krystal George.
Any student interested in becoming a member of Alpha Epsilon Delta should contact Dr. Williams-Hart at tara.williams-hart@lsus.edu. There will be two Alpha Epsilon Delta chapter meetings held in November, with the exact dates still pending. We would like to acknowledge the following people who have helped us prepare our application for the national office: