TOP NATIONAL AWARD: Goes to Mizzou Medical School for student doctor career advising

Team honored for innovative programs

COLUMBIA, Mo 4/13/17 (Beat Byte) --  The Mizzou School of Medicine has received the nation's top honor for helping medical students navigate the complex landscape of career planning. 

The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Careers in Medicine (CiM) group presented the 2016 Excellence in Medical Student Career Advising Program Award at the organization's annual conference in Seattle in November.   The CiM Advisory Committee selects the awardees during its annual committee meeting each September.

Rachel Brown, MD, Alison Tharp-Martin, M.Ed., and Jen Rachow -- Columbia-based faculty in the School of Medicine's Office of Medical Education -- accepted the award on behalf of the University of Missouri.  

The award recognized Mizzou's Advice, Support and Career Counseling Program (ASC), a comprehensive four-year career plan that combines self-directed activities with formal workshops, specialty forums, and one-on-one faculty advising during the first two years of medical school.

Mizzou's ASC program has resulted in "significant increases in students’ overall satisfaction with career planning services," AAMC CiM representatives explained. 

AAMC also noted the Mizzou team's Career Advising Tool for Students and Advisors (CATSA), a homegrown, on-line tool that helps prepare medical students for the next phase in their careers:  hospital residency training programs in specific fields such as surgery and family medicine.  

An organization of all 147 accredited U.S. and 17 accredited Canadian medical schools, the AAMC founded Careers in Medicine in 1999.   CiM works with school liaisons who implement career development programs, develop innovative curricula, and train medical school advisors to support the career decisions of medical students.  

 

The Excellence in Medical Student Career Advising Program Award acknowledges the development and/or continued administration of career development programs for medical students that meets specific CiM goals.