In this issue:
- Update on the ISA Survey
- Tip of the Month: Tips for medical school activities
Update on the ISA 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. At 90% (up 6 percentage points over last week), your class has achieved the highest response rate among all cohorts! This is an amazing accomplishment, and we are so grateful for your high degree of engagement.
Another record you have set involves all cohorts exceeding the target goal of 80%: Wyoming is at 100%, followed closely by Spokane (98%), Montana (97%), Alaska (88%), Seattle (84%), and Idaho (83%). Please see the graph below for the regional breakdown.
Gift cards will be drawn after the survey closes on Wednesday, Oct. 30, so you can still fill out a survey and be eligible.
If you have not yet taken the survey, look for an email from eqi@uw.edu with the subject line “[Reminder] We need you to complete the ISA survey!”
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 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| Spokane | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| Wyoming | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Alaska | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Montana | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Idaho | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| Total | 12 | 6 | 14 | 32 |
*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.
Peer to Peer: Tip of the Month from Career Advising
You’ve now heard about our school’s summer Independent Investigative Inquiry (III) requirement. Check out the advice from specialty career advisors in the first two sections of the UWSOM Specialty Guides on “Advice for MS1s/MS2s Exploring This Specialty,” “Extracurriculars,” and “Scale of Importance for Medical School Activities.”
The Rural Underserved Opportunities Program (RUOP) is a great way to build up your clinical skills while making a real impact in a local community. RUOP, along with programs like Discovery and Integration, is valuable no matter which specialty you end up choosing. If you’re aiming for a more competitive specialty that recommends research, it’s a good idea to do some research next summer.
Don’t stress if it’s not directly related to your field of interest – that’s pretty common! Residency programs appreciate the experience and your ability to produce meaningful results in different areas of medicine. Research not your jam? No worries! Lots of specialties don’t need it.
Wondering where your career path may take you in med school? You can start exploring specialties with interest group events and the Career Advising Video Library.
- Reviewed by BIPOC MS4 Abraham Correa-Medina. Originally written by BIPOC alum Shanelle Briggs, MD.
ICYMI: Here’s the previous MS1 newsletter.