MS3 Class Information Oct 24 2024

In this issue:

  • Please email the EQI office if you need support in completing the ISA student survey
  • ICYMI: How to schedule your 4th year Career Planning Appointment
  • Tip of the month: Planning for your Fourth Year

Please email EQI if you need support in completing the ISA student survey

Here is a message from ISA Committee Co-Leads Nicholas Popp (MS4), Sarah Busch (MS4), Ben Henderson (MS3), Matt Lumsden (MS2) and Lila Faulhaber (MS2):

We thank so many of you for completing the student-led Independent Student Analysis (ISA) survey, which helped raise the response rate from 41% to 53%!  You are now 27 percentage points away from the target goal of 80%. Alaska students recorded the highest rate of 71%, followed by Idaho (62%), Wyoming (60%), Montana (59%), Spokane (59%), and Seattle (37%).

We know this request to complete the survey comes during your busy clinical training and appreciate every single submitted survey.

The survey is scheduled to close on October 30 with the link sent from eqi@uw.edu;  subject line “[Reminder] We need you to complete the ISA survey!” 

Please know many levels of communications have been made to your clerkship leadership team to assist you with carving out some time to complete the survey. If you need additional assistance, please reach out to eqi@uw.edu, the Educational Quality Improvement team.

Gift cards are available and will be drawn as soon as the survey closes (Please see the card distribution by regional affiliation in the table below).

Thank you so much for your help!

Gift Card Incentives: Please see the breakdown below. There will be one $500 gift card for drawing from all four cohorts.

Campus # of Gift Cards ($10) if Campus Response Rates Reach 60% # of Gift Cards ($50) if Campus Response Rates Reach 60% Additional # of Gift Cards ($30) if Campus Response Rates Reach 80% Total # of Gift Cards
Seattle 4 1 4 9
Spokane 3 1 3 7
Wyoming 2 1 2 5
Alaska 2 1 2 5
Montana 2 1 3 6
Idaho 3 1 3 7
Total 16 6 17 39

*According to the UW policy, student employees (e.g., tutors, research assistants, hourly workers, etc.) cannot receive a gift card. If you win the raffle as a student employee, we will send alternative items of the same value from Amazon.

ICYMI: Important info for students entering Match 2026

Please schedule your 4th Year Career Planning Appointment with your career advisor from now through December. You can select that appointment type in the Career Advising Scheduling system (CAS).

Plan to spend a minimum of 2-3 hours reading through the content and taking the prep steps. Think of this as a mini-learning module that will set you up for success in your E&F career planning and your residency application.

Prep Steps to Complete Prior to Your Appointment:

Read ALL the Career Planning for 4th Year Guide webpage resources including the summer and fall PowerPoints and Specialty Guides Clinical Phase Planning content and follow the steps outlined.

Next:

  1. Download and complete a draft of your Clinical Phase Planning Worksheet (found on the Career Planning for 4th Year Guide webpage)
  2. Upload your Planning Worksheet to your meeting in CAS so we can review it together. Appointments cannot be modified within 24 hours so you can email your worksheet to your career advisor if needed

If you have experienced any of the following, please schedule your 4th Year Career Planning appointment from now through early November.

  • Finishing your Patient Care Phase 6-12 weeks after the standard end time of March 2025
  • Foundations course fail(s)
  • Step 1 or Step 2CK fail. Low Step 1 or Step 2CK score. Or you have not taken Step 1 yet
  • Clerkship exam fail or clerkship fail
  • 2 or more passes in Patient Care Phase
  • Pass in a specialty of interest
  • Expansion (non-research related) or leave of absence

If you want to look further ahead, visit the Residency Application Timeline and Residency Application Components on the Applying to Residency page.

Please come to office hours or email your career advisor if you have quick questions in the meantime. They are here to support you in this process!

Peer to Peer: Road to Residency Tip of the Month

While planning for your last year of medical school is exciting, scheduling your Explore and Focus rotations takes much preparation and planning. Prior to starting, consider reviewing  Career Advising’s 4th year planning webpage. Need help after that? Meet with Career Advising and talk with upper classmates who have been in your shoes.

Remember to book the “4th Year Career Planning Appointment” in CAS. Set aside plenty of time for the prep steps and fill out your Clinical Phase Planning Worksheet before you meet.

Don’t stress too much about your schedule right now. You’ve got time to move things around up to six weeks before the start date of that particular clerkship—and honestly, everyone ends up tweaking their schedule as they figure out their interests and when they’ll need breaks or more time to study for Step 2, etc.

  • Reviewed by BIPOC MS4 Abraham Correa-Medina. Originally written by BIPOC alum Shanelle Briggs, MD.

Here is a link to the most recent newsletter for MS3s.

Have a terrific week!