Career advising structure and roles in five Chicago medical schools

Abstract

Background There has been a decrease in overall applicants in radiation oncology in 2019, 2020, and 2021. There is also an association between the availability of radiation oncology advisors and ultimately having students match into radiation oncology. The goal of this study is to investigate how career advising processes in medical schools are structured, to better understand how students find opportunities for future specialties such as radiation oncology. Methods Website content was analyzed at five Chicago medical schools followed by a 20-minute semi-structured interview of a dean or director of advising at each school by one study team member (TMP). Interviews were transcribed and thematic analysis was performed. Results Career advising uses a variety of strategies and is structured differently at each school. However, each school shares these 4 primary components: 1) longitudinal physician advisor communities, 2) an office of student affairs (OSA), 3) specialty faculty advisors, and 4) peer advisors. Physician advisors' roles included mandatory individual/group meetings all 4 years covering orientation to school resources, career exploration panels, residency application, and professional development. The OSA's role in career advising is twofold - formal career programming and general advising. Advising involves directing students to the best person/resources, although OSA staff sometimes directly advise on topics such as the ERAS application process. The specialty faculty advisor's role is to prepare students for the residency application process once the student has chosen a specialty, often in the third year. The structure of this advising is student driven, meaning the number of meetings and involvement varies widely. Peer advising involves student leadership helping to pair third- and fourth-year medical students with junior peers. Discussion Career advising at each school has some form of physician advisor communities, OSA, specialty faculty advisors, and peer advisors. To ensure incorporation of radiation oncology in career advising, individualized resources about radiation oncology could be developed for each advisor role. Radiation oncologists could participate in the physician advisor role or participate in ensuring the physician advisors are up to date on the field of radiation oncology. Cross-institutional specialty and peer advising could be implemented for schools that don't have a radiation oncology department or fourth year students going into the field. Through the groundwork laid here, we hope new ideas can be implemented to ensure students are aware of radiation oncology as a specialty choice, its potential pros/cons, and are equipped to pursue it if desired. There has been a decrease in overall applicants in radiation oncology in 2019, 2020, and 2021. There is also an association between the availability of radiation oncology advisors and ultimately having students match into radiation oncology. The goal of this study is to investigate how career advising processes in medical schools are structured, to better understand how students find opportunities for future specialties such as radiation oncology. Website content was analyzed at five Chicago medical schools followed by a 20-minute semi-structured interview of a dean or director of advising at each school by one study team member (TMP). Interviews were transcribed and thematic analysis was performed. Career advising uses a variety of strategies and is structured differently at each school. However, each school shares these 4 primary components: 1) longitudinal physician advisor communities, 2) an office of student affairs (OSA), 3) specialty faculty advisors, and 4) peer advisors. Physician advisors' roles included mandatory individual/group meetings all 4 years covering orientation to school resources, career exploration panels, residency application, and professional development. The OSA's role in career advising is twofold - formal career programming and general advising. Advising involves directing students to the best person/resources, although OSA staff sometimes directly advise on topics such as the ERAS application process. The specialty faculty advisor's role is to prepare students for the residency application process once the student has chosen a specialty, often in the third year. The structure of this advising is student driven, meaning the number of meetings and involvement varies widely. Peer advising involves student leadership helping to pair third- and fourth-year medical students with junior peers. Career advising at each school has some form of physician advisor communities, OSA, specialty faculty advisors, and peer advisors. To ensure incorporation of radiation oncology in career advising, individualized resources about radiation oncology could be developed for each advisor role. Radiation oncologists could participate in the physician advisor role or participate in ensuring the physician advisors are up to date on the field of radiation oncology. Cross-institutional specialty and peer advising could be implemented for schools that don't have a radiation oncology department or fourth year students going into the field. Through the groundwork laid here, we hope new ideas can be implemented to ensure students are aware of radiation oncology as a specialty choice, its potential pros/cons, and are equipped to pursue it if desired.