MS1 Class Information – Jan. 11, 2024

Students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds can apply for new program

The UW Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP) is seeking applications from highly motivated and economically disadvantaged students who are interested in helping their community and supporting their career development.

HCOP Ambassadors is a two-year interprofessional program that includes:

  • Educational Enrichment: learning about topics such as social determinants of health, health equity, health disparities and current and emerging health issues
  • Career Development: Networking with other students and healthcare professionals

Program requirements:

  • Peer- to near-peer mentoring of high school and undergraduate students aspiring to health careers
  • Complete elective clinical training
  • Service-learning engagement with community organizations (can be combined with Independent Investigative Inquiry (III) requirement)

Please see this flyer for information about requirements and benefits which include a monetary stipend for your participation in the program. The deadline to apply is Feb. 15, 2024.

To be eligible, student should be:

  • Economically disadvantaged as defined by Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) (See pages 3-4 of this PDF), or,
  • Educationally disadvantaged:
    • First in your family to go to college, or,
    • Graduated from a high school with low funding or low percentages of seniors receiving a high school diploma or low number of graduates who went on to college, or,
    • Went to a high school with a large number of students who received free or reduced lunches

ICYMI: Please schedule your Intro to Career Planning Meeting if you haven’t yet

A message from your career advisors: This is a friendly reminder to schedule your MS1 Intro to Career Planning Meeting with your career advisor anytime from now through May 2024. Not all of you will be able to schedule in January, as there are more than 280 of you! Thank you for your patience if you’re not able to schedule as soon as you prefer.

If you are interested in any of the very competitive specialties listed in the career planning timeline, please try to meet with your career advisor in Winter Quarter. Please email your career advisor if you can’t find a time that works for your schedule.

Here are prep steps before your meeting. Plan about 90 minutes to:

  1. Schedule your MS1 Intro to Career Planning appointment via CAS
  2. Watch the three short videos. Look for them under the tab that says Approaching Career Planning & Extracurriculars in Foundations. (20 minutes in total)
  3. Complete these AAMC Careers in Medicine self-assessments. (40 minutes in total)
    • MSPI  (Medical Specialty Preference Inventory)
    • PVIPS (Physician Values in Practice Scale)
    • Log back into CAS and upload the two assessment reports to your appointment
  1. Review the following web content: (30 minutes in total)

We look forward to seeing you in 2024!

  • Linh Ngo (Alaska, Montana, Olympic)
  • Sarah Thomson (Cascade, Wyoming)
  • Tonja Brown (Idaho, Spokane)

Ophthalmology opportunity

From time to time, we share opportunities outside of UW Medicine: If you are interested in ophthalmology, you can find more information here about the Wilmer Summer Research Scholars Program from Johns Hopkins Medicine.


“Tip of the Month” from the Career Advising Student Advisory Board

We hope you had a restful winter break! You can now schedule your initial career advising and exploration meeting. Taking time for career exploration early on will be super beneficial. Explore the Career Advising  website and bring questions for your career advisor.

  • Reviewed by Career Advising Student Advisory BIPOC board member L’Oreal Kennedy. Originally written by BIPOC alum Shanelle Briggs.

In case you missed it, here is a link to the previous newsletter for MS1s.

Have a wonderful week!