Program Award: University of Chicago Division of the Biological Sciences Pritzker School of Medicine
The career advising program offered by the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine (“Pritzker”) is intended to support the personal and professional development of all students, to provide the broadest possible exposure and investigation into the range of careers and options available, and to equip students with the skills and tools to guide their career exploration and development throughout not only medical school but over the course of their professional lives. The career advising program is led by the Dean of Students (Dr. James Woodruff), the Assistant Dean of Students (Dr. Wei Wei Lee), the Director of Preclinical Advising (Dr. Chelsea Dorsey), eight faculty career advisors, and key medical school staff members and utilizes both an individualized and systems approach to working with students to achieve these ambitious goals.
In addition to the work happening within the school's learning communities, the Pritzker career advising program fosters self-understanding through the formal and informal integration of reflective components throughout the curriculum as well as provides ample opportunities for career exploration. The student affairs team also uses the data to tailor programming for each class based on the most common skills students have identified as wanting more information and exposure.
Pritzker medical students develop their decision-making skills through personalized support, encouraging them to gain exposure to a variety of specialties and thus helping students narrow their interests by giving them experiential learning and a framework to think about how their personal priorities may match their career choice. The hub-and-spoke structure of Pritzker’s career advising program allows students to receive ongoing, personalized, one-on-one advising from experienced clinical faculty advisors as part of our effort to “meet students where they are.”
Advisor Award: Angela P. Mihalic, MD, University of Texas Southwestern Medical School
Angela P. Mihalic, MD, is a distinguished teaching professor in pediatrics and associate dean for student affairs at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. Dr. Mihalic and the Student Affairs office serve as the home base for each medical specialty’s faculty career advisors as well as the advisors’ coordinators, to ensure essential common messages are communicated to students, as a source for national information and data, and as the “sweepers” that come in and solidify career and backup plans.
Dr. Mihalic works with her faculty and staff to keep a group of over a thousand medical students on track for success. She was also instrumental in the creation of Strive, a longitudinal leadership and career planning curriculum.
This superhuman work ethic in supporting UT Southwestern students from medical school to residency has permeated her role at UT Southwestern. But where Dr. Mihalic's advising skills truly stand out is through the STAR database.
A recent graduate argues that no other advisor has done more than Dr. Mihalic to improve the residency program search and to support not just her own students, but students across the nation, in navigating the glut of data around residency programs. STAR has been an invaluable resource and has empowered students to make smart, targeted choices about where to apply and how to rank. STAR is an example of how Dr. Mihalic is not just applying career planning theory, but advancing it. She has truly created a data-driven resource for the residency application process, not for compensation or personal gain, but to better support all students. That demonstrates how she goes the extra mile to support students.
Support Staff Award: Csilla Kiss, MA, Harvard Medical School
Csilla Kiss, MA, student advising manager, provides advising and programmatic support for the career advising program at Harvard Medical School in Boston. She is an accomplished and committed student services professional who works well with faculty, students, and other administrators. She is extremely knowledgeable in the field of student support services, and for this reason is sought after for advice.
She has worked hand-in-hand with HMS constituents to implement innovative career development initiatives and provide quality career advising to the HMS medical student population by leveraging her outstanding organizational skills. She has single handedly formalized HMS’s career programs, which were gasping for air. These programs are now ready to run marathons! Her projects are carried out in an impeccable manner and with great success. Simply put, Csilla is a logistical master who can bring groups together and get the job done.
Csilla’s unmatched work is guided by a strong desire to help our students succeed with deep respect for each student's singular circumstances. Csilla is truly impressive in how she juggles the multitude of tasks without losing sight of the mission.