Specialty Choice Conversations

Mock Residency Interviews

Early Clinical Experiences

M1, Fall semester M2 | Required | Contact Kim Crist
Right away you’ll be exposed to patients in outpatient clinics at UIHC and the surrounding communities.  You’ll be paired with experienced clinicians so that you may begin learning about clinical communication, patient populations, medical specialties, and the roles of members of the healthcare team.  In the fall of the M2 year, you’ll continue by shadowing senior medical students in the inpatient setting to prepare you for working in the clinical environment.  

Away Rotations

Fall semester M4 | Optional | Contact the Registrar's office.
There are several reasons to do away rotations; for instance, you may want to use them as extended interviews or auditions at a location to which you might want to apply for residency.  Individually Arranged Electives Form →

Advanced Elective and Selective Clerkships

M4 | Required | Contact the Registrar's Office
Advanced clerkships allow you to understand the roles of the subspecialties within clinical medicine.  Some you'll be required to select from a list of possibilities; others are elective, although a certain number of semester hours are required to graduate. Advanced Electives and Selecive Clerkships →

Guide to CCOM Specialty Based Pathways

Throughout | Optional | Contact departments
UIHC clinical departments are developing their own resources for medical students to assist in understanding careers in their specialties.  Clinical Department Resources →

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Career Counseling Workshops

Throughout | Optional | Contact the MSCC
These workshops are designed to help you explore specialty choice options and to prepare for the NRMP residency match.

Career Life Planning Elective

Spring semesters M1, M2, M3 | Optional | Contact the MSCC
Through class discussions and activities, you will learn about selecting a specialty and preparing for a successful match.

Specialty Choice Conversations

Spring semesters M1, M2, M3, M4 | Optional | Contact the MSCC
These individual counseling discussions can help you to clarify your goals and motivations for considering various career options.

Clinical Faculty Advice

Any time | Optional | Contact the MSCC
The MSCC can put you in touch with clinical faculty who have expressed an interest in meeting with students to discuss their work.  Such meetings can develop into fruitful mentoring relationships.

MSCC-Curated Resources

Any time | Optional | Contact the MSCC
The MSCC has curated a list of websites that you will find helpful in directing your efforts in defining a career path.  MSCC-Curated Resources →

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NEST Groups

Throughout | Required | Contact Jim Choi
​Beginning at orientation, you will be placed in a  small groups of students from within the same community and class. Your NEST group will meet each semester in a meeting facilitated by the community faculty director to discuss transitions, wellness, challenges, and career opportunities.

Match Panels

Spring semester | Optional | Contact Jim Choi
After M4 students have obtained their residency matches, you’ll have the opportunity to hear from them about the process, how they made their decisions, and the pitfalls they encountered. Match panels take place both in the Learning Communities and in specialty interest groups.

Residency Fairs

Spring semester | Optional | Contact Jim Choi
Yet another opportunity to explore residency programs, especially those offered in Iowa.

Individual Counseling

Medical Student Performance Evaluation

Late M3/Early M4 | Required | Contact Dave Etler
The Medical Student Performance Evaluation summarizes your performance in medical school.  It is created in the months before you begin interviewing for residency programs.  During the process you will also meet with your community faculty director or a dean for career advising during the process of writing the MSPE.

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Registrar-Curated Resources

Electronic Residency Application Service

Fall semester M4 | Required | Contact the Registrar's Office
ERAS is the system by which medical students apply for residency. Some specialties don’t use ERAS, but most do.

Letter of Recommendation

Fall semester M4 | Required | Contact the Registrar's Office
When you apply for residency programs, letters of recommendation written by faculty in your specialty or other appropriate faculty, are submitted electronically through the Letters of Recommendation Program, or LORP.  

Couples matching

Fall and Spring semester M4 | Optional | Contact the Registrar's Office
If you are in a committed relationship with another student seeking a residency match, it is often desirable to end up in the same city for residency.  The process of obtaining such a match as a couple requires special attention.

Specialty Specific Faculty Advisor

M3 | Required | Contact the Registrar's Office
During Phase III of the MD curriculum, students explore medical specialization options, select a specialty, and apply for the Match.  Nearly always, students need assistance in navigating the decisions they must make, weighing options, and understanding the process.  To ensure success, students are required to choose a specialty-specific faculty advisor (SSFA). Specialty-Specific Faculty Advisor →

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Individual Counseling

Any time | Optional | Contact Audra King
Your deans are more than happy to meet with you one-on-one to discuss your academic progress, offer advice, and help you plot a career path.

Specialty Fair

Preclinical | Required | Contact Billie Ruden
To provide early information on various clinical specialties, 18 of the Core UIHC clinical departments presents information unique to their specialty. In addition to academic requirements for each specialties, the presentations will also include practical information such as lifestyle issues when practicing in a particular specialty as well as patient population, length of training and subspecialty opportunities.

Web-based Career/Specialty Mentor Request

Any time | Optional | Contact Jim Choi
Once you log in to this web site, you will be able to request a career mentor for any clinical specialties available at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. If you are undecided, you will be assigned to a learning community faculty director or one of the OSAC deans. In addition to different clinical specialties, you will also be able to specify various demographic information and training institutions for residency and/or fellowship programs.  Web-based Career/Specialty Mentor Request →

Career Connection (Clerx)

Any time | Required | Contact Jim Choi
This application allows you to track goals and milestones as you make progress toward selecting and achieving your desired match. Career Connection (Clerx) →

Mock Residency Interviews

Fall semester M4 | Optional | Contact Jim Choi
You can participate in mock interviews throughout interview season. These 30-45 minute sessions are designed to simulate a residency interview.  Each session offers both interview practice and feedback.  

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Personal Statements and CVs

Summer of M3, Fall of M4 | Optional | Contact Camille Socarras
Every student must write a compelling personal statement and have a curriculum vitae to apply to a residency program. Getting started early, as well as seeking help, is very important.  Personal Statements and CVs →

Personal-Professional Compass

Throughout | Optional | PPC webpage
This program works to help you understand, articulate, and integrate your personal and professional values and goals as you navigate your way through the four years of medical school. Personal-Professional Compass →

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