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How do I find someone who would be willing to mentor a medical student?
I am a current medical student, looking for a mentor. I'm very dedicated, passionate, energetic, and always looking for ways to become more knowledgeable. My main interests are Surgery, Cardiothoracic surgery, Cardiology, and Public/Global health. Is there anyone interested in mentoring me, or knows anyone who may be interested in mentoring me?
I am also available for remote mentoring.
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Pamela’s Answer
Hi Alexandria,
I’m sure there are many folks who would jump at the chance to be your mentor! Most med schools have a matching program where attendings volunteer to mentor students who are interested in their field. This should be very doable in NYC where there are some great academic centers affiliated with the local hospitals. The best person to reach out to is a professor or advisor, or a senior student. Many schools have student-let mentor matching programs. Another way to find a mentor is to speak with residents during your surgery and medicine rotations - they will typically know which attendings mentor students. Hope this was helpful.
Pam
I’m sure there are many folks who would jump at the chance to be your mentor! Most med schools have a matching program where attendings volunteer to mentor students who are interested in their field. This should be very doable in NYC where there are some great academic centers affiliated with the local hospitals. The best person to reach out to is a professor or advisor, or a senior student. Many schools have student-let mentor matching programs. Another way to find a mentor is to speak with residents during your surgery and medicine rotations - they will typically know which attendings mentor students. Hope this was helpful.
Pam
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Waseem’s Answer
Your target clinical specialities are not matching me. You should find your mentor while you were studying in medical university or during training period.
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Munleen’s Answer
Sure! - In fact I would say your best bet is within your medical university and also looking up your potential residencies - global health I would argue is a way of how we percieve the world, the necessity of medical care and provisions that are needed. For instance - you could go onto lecture or train in the application of cardiothoracic surgery in countries that are in need of such speciality that you would pursue seasonally.
Cardiothoracic surgery would be your primary focus and you would want to orient to that as your day to day mode of operating - unless you prefer more bureacratic work and less actual surgery; then you would focus more on public health.
Cardiothoracic surgery would be your primary focus and you would want to orient to that as your day to day mode of operating - unless you prefer more bureacratic work and less actual surgery; then you would focus more on public health.
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Midwest’s Answer
Alexandria, this is a great and important question! Residing in New York, you are in an excellent community of medical professionals not only at your own institution but really anyone in the city who could be easily accessible to you. One way to find mentorship is to broadly seek out shadowing and/or volunteering experience in these areas and then see if there are individuals in those careers who you work well with. You can build off these brief experiences to try to apply for an internship with them, a summer job, and/or a research opportunity. Your interest in public/global health may also guide your research focus and lead you to other individuals specifically invested in this area of study.
Another source of potential mentors is professional societies. For example, the Society of Thoracic surgeons has a mentorship program that may meet your needs very well in the field of cardiothoracic surgery. As I look at your interests at this time as a medical student, many of those interests overlap and align as final products (e.g., cardiac surgeons and interventional cardiologists working together) but medicine and surgery have vastly different training pathways. The most immediate decision that you will be faced with is deciding on your next step. Will you do internal medicine or surgery? It's very important that you gain exposure to both of these fields and speak to as many people from each as you can in order to determine which is right for you. Once you do, devote yourself to it entirely!
Hope this helps!
Check out The Society of Thoracic Surgeons mentorship program here: https://www.sts.org/sts-mentorship-program
Gain exposure to make an informed decision between internal medicine (cardiology) and surgery (CT surgery)
Ask your medical school counselor about mentorship opportunities at your home institution
Identify 5 individuals you would like to be mentored by and cold contact them
Another source of potential mentors is professional societies. For example, the Society of Thoracic surgeons has a mentorship program that may meet your needs very well in the field of cardiothoracic surgery. As I look at your interests at this time as a medical student, many of those interests overlap and align as final products (e.g., cardiac surgeons and interventional cardiologists working together) but medicine and surgery have vastly different training pathways. The most immediate decision that you will be faced with is deciding on your next step. Will you do internal medicine or surgery? It's very important that you gain exposure to both of these fields and speak to as many people from each as you can in order to determine which is right for you. Once you do, devote yourself to it entirely!
Hope this helps!
Midwest recommends the following next steps:
Thank you so much, I appreciate you taking the time to comment on my question! I will definitely look into the Society of Thoracic Surgeon Mentorship Program, and look into the internal medicine vs. surgery career path.
Alexandria
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