In this issue:
- Participate in the 2025 Independent Student Analysis (ISA) Follow-Up Survey
- HCOP program Ambassador Recruitment 2025-2026
- Career Advising Guidance for MS1s in Autumn Quarter
- Career Advising Tip-of-the-Month
Let Your Voice Be Heard – Participate in the 2025 Independent Student Analysis (ISA) Follow-Up Survey
This October, all UWSOM students are invited to participate in the 2025 Independent Student Analysis (ISA) Follow-Up Survey—and it’s open now! The survey runs October 6–17, takes about 15 minutes to complete, and your feedback directly helps shape the medical student experience and supports UWSOM’s LCME accreditation process. Plus, participants will be entered to win gift cards with a grand prize of $500! See below for the incentive breakdown.
Check your inbox for the October 6 email from eqi@uw.edu with your personalized survey link and the subject line [2025 UWSOM Independent Student Analysis (ISA) Follow-Up Survey Invitation]. Didn’t see it? Try searching your inbox or checking your spam folder.
| Campus | # of Gift Cards ($10) | # of Gift Cards ($50) |
| Seattle | 2 | 4 |
| Spokane | 1 | 3 |
| Wyoming | 1 | 2 |
| Alaska | 1 | 2 |
| Montana | 1 | 2 |
| Idaho | 2 | 2 |
*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.
As of October 8, 18% of MS1 students have completed the survey. As you can see from the graph below, 90% of Wyoming students have completed the survey, followed by Alaska (24%), Seattle (16%), Montana (13%), Idaho (5%), and Spokane (3%). Many Wyoming students completed the survey in class earlier this week, and we look forward to updating the response rates following more class sessions. Our target goal is a 80% response rate across all cohorts!
Thank you for your help!
EQI Team
HCOP Program Ambassador Recruitment 2025-2026
Program Overview
Team-based, interdisciplinary approach to prepare health profession students working in rural and medically underserved communities.
Eligibility
Open to students with ~ two years of their health professional program remaining.
Requirements
- Mentor a pre-health student
- Self-paced Canvas modules on rural health and underserved populations. Graded on completion, not academic credit
- Final presentation (e.g., III poster, RUOP presentation, community partner presentation, etc.)
- Complete 80 clinical hours (clinical rotations will qualify)
Stipend
Receive a $1,000 stipend.
Priority deadline to apply is October 12. Applications submitted by this date will receive priority review. After October 12, applications will still be accepted on a rolling basis.
Career Advising Guidance for MS1s in Autumn Quarter
Your dedicated Career Advisor will be in touch soon regarding your in-person Intro to Career Planning group session at your WWAMI site in November. This session will introduce you to the key concepts and resources to support you in Foundations and throughout medical school and will answer lots of your career/specialty focused questions.
In the meantime, we ask that you make time to watch three short videos developed in partnership with Dr. Maya Sardesai, Assistant Dean of Student Development, which give perspective on career exploration/discernment, extracurricular involvement, and research:
- Career Exploration and Discernment for First-Year Medical Students
- Making Decisions About Extracurriculars Participation (opportunities are always arising)
- How to Navigate Research: Guidance for Foundation Students
You are also welcome to look ahead at aspects of our website, including:
- The Career Planning Timeline: your guide to steps and resources to support you from Year 1 to Match!
- Explore Your Career: guidance on how to approach career exploration & exploring specialties.
For Career Advising’s perspective on non-clinical elective selection during Foundations, visit our Elective Selection website.
From January-May 2026 we open our advising schedules to meet 1-1 with MS1s. We will reach out to you in December with information about scheduling this appointment. Please email your career advisor if you have unique circumstances related to the timing of your 1-1 meeting. Otherwise, we ask that you not schedule appointments with us until winter 2026, as we meet with 300+ MS3s in the fall.
If you have questions about Triple I/summer planning, please review the slides from career advising remarks in the recent Triple I presentation. We recommend talking with your College Mentor who is a good sounding board for decision making.
You are welcome to come to Office Hours: M-Wed, 11-12pm AK/12-1pm PT/1-2pm MT and talk with a Career Advisor. There may be a wait time if we have clinical students in the queue.
Your dedicated Career Advisors (Linh, Sarah and Tonja) look forward to seeing you for your group session this fall.
Career Advising Student Advisory Board Tip-of-the Month
This advice is for all students and includes first-generation and BIPOC student lenses.
You’ve now heard about our school’s summer Independent Investigative Inquiry (III) requirement. There are multiple ways to fulfill this requirement.
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 and Global Health Immersion Program (GHIP) are valuable no matter which specialty you end up choosing.
If you’re aiming for a very competitive specialty that recommends research, it’s a good idea to do research next summer. Don’t stress if it’s not directly related to your field of interest – that’s pretty common! Residency programs value 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.
Check out the advice from specialty career advisors in the UWSOM Specialty Guides under “Foundations Phase Planning” on how to “Get Engaged with this Specialty” and “Extracurricular Planning.” 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 MS4 Cara Chapman. Originally written by alum Shanelle Briggs, MD.
We welcome tips and ideas from all students. Please reach out to Career Advising at medadv@uw.edu.
This link will take you to past information for MS1s.