Jonathan Hatch

Everyone knows medical school is hard. The classes are demanding, the hours are long and the competition is fierce. A productive undergraduate experience is essential to being successful in such a demanding field as medicine. But Jonathan Hatch ’06, from Heber City, Utah, currently a student at Creighton Medical Student in Omaha, Neb., has the benefit of a Utah Valley State College education.

“There are several of my classmates from Berkeley, Stanford and other big name schools,” Hatch said. “But I feel that my UVSC education has given me a definite advantage.”

Hatch graduated from UVSC with a degree in biology. He was appreciative of the small class sizes, the personal interaction with his professors and the practical knowledge he gained while studying here.
“A lot of biology classes don’t relate directly to the medical field,” Hatch said. “But UVSC seemed to correlate what we were learning with how it translates into medicine.”

Because of this, he was prepared for his time at Creighton.

“When I got to Creighton it was easy for me to build on the medical foundation that I acquired from UVSC,” Hatch said. “The professors at UVSC got me in a mindset of thinking in practical terms of what I was actually learning. So it wasn’t just random bits of information.”

While at UVSC, Hatch and nine others started UVSC’s Pre-Med Club. And from its humble beginnings, the Pre-Med club has grown.

“It’s great to see the explosion from hardly anyone going into the medical school, to actually having a respectable amount every year getting accepted,” Hatch said.

The Pre-Med Club works closely with UVSC alumni to help current students work on applications for medical school. This, coupled with the knowledge gained, is perhaps the best preparation for these students’ futures.
“At UVSC you had to work hard for your grade and earn it,” Hatch said. “And the same thing transfers to medical school. UVSC prepared me for that.”