Nebiyu Osman said he was dumbstruck after reading a Wired article this summer on the top five reasons to hate pre-med students.

The pre-med sophomore from the University of Pennsylvania was looking for a summer job when he got the idea to make a social network to take the edge out of the pre-med track.

“I was thinking about it, and it’s so true why people don’t like pre-meds,” Osman said. “They’re really competitive and cut-throat, but as an aspiring doctor, I wish it didn’t have to be that way.”

With the help of a teammate, Ainesh Ravi, on the Penn cross country team, Osman set to design the Pre-Med Authority, a social media website for pre-med students to gain knowledge on different medical fields and connect with each other in a non-threatening environment—and they’re looking to expand outside of Pennsylvania and to North Carolina. The site should be accessible to N.C . State students Sept. 21.

“A lot of the ideas and motivation comes from my frustration as a freshman,” Osman said. “For me, being an athlete and taking academics seriously was tough. And since there are so many people, especially on my campus looking to go to med school, it can be intimidating.”

The Pre-Med Authority integrates blogs from pre-med students, interviews with doctors and uploaded notes on core classes to take give students exposure to different types of medical professions and tips for boosting their potential, according to Osman .

“You’re not going to get the opportunity to shadow everybody,” Osman said. “Through our doctor interviews and blogs, we want to shed a lot of light on what this career is really like.”

Osman said the development of the Pre-Med Authority was an altruistic way for him to do his research for medical school.

“I’m going to have to do this work anyway, so I may as well help some other people out and leave a trail,” Osman said. “If you’re going to dedicate your college life to this goal, and your life afterwards, you are going to need to know this is what you want to do.”

Osman stressed the importance of students exploring the opportunities in medicine. As the son of a physician, Osman said he had increased exposure to medicine, but it’s not enough for him to know exactly what he wants to do.

“I was talking to a doctor at a hospital in Philly and he said, ‘Honestly, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into,’ when I asked him about getting into med school. He said, ‘Thank god I love my career,’ but I don’t want to be at that point. To me, it’s terrifying—to hand over your life to this profession—especially because it’s self-inflicted.”

The development of the site isn’t complete and Osman sees the network growing as he grows as a student.

“In the site’s current form, it’s probably meant for more freshman and sophomores,” Osman said. “With our platform for bloggers, we will have more blog posts with their experiences applying to med school and making their personal statements.”

The Pre-Med Authority is not just looking for users, but also top students to help contribute content, including blog posts, samples of resumes and interviews with practicing doctors and researchers.

“I thought it would be a cool idea for pocket money,” Osman said. “If you want to do that, you have to make your content good, and we would pay contributors as we look into getting grants.”

At this point, U-Penn, Vanderbilt University, Penn State and University of Pittsburgh are members. As the site grows and catches on with these student bodies, Osman said he is looking to expand to other universities.

With four medical schools in-state, Osman said North Carolina students are a good demographic for the website.

“We’d love have a base at N.C . State, Duke, Chapel Hill,” Osman said. “There are plenty of good schools in NC.”

Asha Nadabar , a junior in biological sciences and pre-med student, said she sees the site as a beneficial supplement to her connections with the Pre-Health Club.

“The whole pre-med atmosphere is really competitive, but sadly that’s how it is,” Nadabar said. “The Pre-Health Club gives you a lot of opportunities to learn about the resources and getting to know other people, but I would look into it to see what this website can offer.”

Unlike the organization of the Pre-Health Club on campus, Osman’s experience at Penn is different and less interactive.

“The goal of the website is to give pre-med students the opportunity to connect with students on their campus mainly,” Osman said. “Even though these pre-med organizations exist, I see a social network being less intimidating for a student to research and inquire for information.”

Ankita Gautam , a senior in biochemistry, said she would use the site to share class work.

“I think it would be cool to post class notes,” Gautam said. “My friends and I already do that, so I think it would be helpful. It’s nice to think of a resource that can help you and others.”

If the idea catches on or not, Osman said he’s going to continue working on the Pre-Med Authority.

“I like it because it helps me solidify my ideas and knowledge for med school,” Osman said. “I might as well share it with others.”