Three 2016 CiM Excellence in Medical Student Career Advising Awards were presented during the Group on Student Affairs (GSA) National Business Meeting at Learn Serve Lead: The AAMC Annual Meeting on Friday November 11, 2016 in Seattle. Congratulations to our award winners!
Program award: University of Missouri School of Medicine
The University of Missouri School of Medicine in Columbia, Mo., is recognized for its Advice, Support and Career Counseling Program (ASC). The ASC program is a comprehensive four-year career planning program that closely follows the CiM model, and combines a variety of self-directed activities with more formal workshops, specialty forums and one-on-one faculty advising during the first two years of medical school.
Notable features of the ASC program include the Career Advising Tool for Students and Advisors (CATSA), a homegrown and maintained on-line residency preparation and application tool, and significant increases in students’ overall satisfaction with career planning services. Dr. Rachel Brown accepted the award on behalf of the school.
Advisor Award: Fidencio Saldaňa, MD, MPH, Harvard Medical School
Dr. Fidencio Saldaňa, dean of students at Harvard Medical School, is responsible for organizing and overseeing the advisory program for faculty members in five academic societies. Both faculty and students consider Dr. Saldaňa to be a gifted teacher, a committed mentor, a superb advisor, and an outstanding role model. He was awarded the Excellence in Mentoring award from the Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA), and has demonstrated an ability to attend to the needs of the students, regardless of their background. He is currently revamping Harvard’s advising system and is actively involved in incorporating the CiM assessments tools a more formal part of the new advising system.
Support Staff Award: Kelliann Herman, MBA, University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine
The first ever support staff award was presented to Kelliann Herman, MBA, senior specialist for student affairs at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine Lehigh Valley Health Network Campus in Allentown, Penn., for her role in coordinating transitioning students from USF-Tampa to LVHN, career advising activities and events, student organizations and interest groups, and student special events.
Kelli has helped shape career advising functions at the campus, and has led the development of various career advising activities for M3 and M4 students, including a student meet-and-greet function, a career student mixer where fourth year students can share experiences and advise the third-year students, a career workshop, and a career fair where physician representatives from specialty areas present a panel discussion of the unique aspects of their specialties.