MD Academic and Career Advising Program

Join the Neighborhood
Within the MD program, the Neighborhood (comprised of five houses), cultivates community, well-being and professional identity through individual and shared experiences. Each house has an ACAP house mentor — a practicing physician — who serves as your academic and career advisor, helping you make decisions that support your professional goals.

Complete the Careers in Medicine Assessments
Complete the Careers in Medicine (CiM) assessments found on the American Association of Medical School (AAMC) website. We recommend taking the Medical Specialty Preference Inventory, Physician Values in Practice, and the Physician Skills Inventory during Phase 1. An assessment-based career exploration workshop takes place during the Patient, Professionalism and Public Health course.

Meet With Your House Mentor
Set up a meeting with your house mentor during the fall to discuss your acclimation to medical school and share your professional interests and goals.

Attend Specialty Interest Group Meetings
Attend student-led specialty interest group meetings. You will gain specialty-specific insight and access to faculty practicing in a variety of specialties and sub-specialties.  Students may take on leadership roles within these student organizations after their first semester of M1 year.

Update Your CV
Update and revise your curriculum vitae at one of our CV workshops offered throughout the year.

Revisit the Careers in Medicine Assessments
Retake the Careers in Medicine inventories and compare your new assessments to prior assessments.

Attend Orientation
Attend the Orientation to Phase 2 to learn more about specialty exploration through your clinical rotations. Orientation includes a panel with third year students who successfully completed Phase 2 and leveraged the clerkship experience to explore specialties.

Review Specialty Profiles
Review specialty profiles using the AAMC’s CiM website to learn more about the specialty, training, work environments, and competitiveness for your specialty of interest.

Interview Physicians in Your Preferred Specialty
Conduct informational interviews with physicians in your preferred specialties to learn more about job responsibilities, academic background, and professional interests.

Engage in Clerkships
Engage in clerkships and leverage your clerkship experience to learn more about specialties through residents, attending physicians, and faculty.

Use the Specialty Indecision Scale
Compare your specialties of interest using the CiM Specialty Indecision Scale (sign-in required). The scale examines 6 major areas of career indecision and suggests activities to address these areas.

Attend Career Advising Day
Attend Career Advising Day to learn about the components of the residency application process and engage in programming aimed to help you build a strong residency application.

Complete the School of Medicine and Public Health Competitiveness Self-Assessment Survey
Complete the School of Medicine and Public Health Competitiveness Self-Assessment Survey and save your results to share with your ACAP house mentor. Surveys will be emailed to students at the conclusion of Career Advising Day.

Set up a Meeting With Your House Mentor
Set up a meeting with your ACAP house mentor to discuss a strategic plan regarding residency applications. Meetings can be conducted in person, over the phone or by video conferencing.

Participate in ACAP Workshops
Participate in fall/winter ACAP workshops designed to prepare you for residency interviews and the Rank Order List process.

Access Career Advising Canvas Site
Access the Specialty Exploration Career Advising Canvas site for additional resources. The site includes contact information for alumni, Specialty Quick Sheets to help identify specialty-specific mentors and interview preparation advice.