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Exploring Your Specialty

Medical Education Office

Find Your Fit

During the Phase of self assessment, your goal should be to achieve a better understanding of yourself, and to ask, “What do I want to do in my medical career?”

With the online AAMC Careers in Medicine resources and self-evaluation tools, you’ll ask yourself, “Who am I?” “What do I like to do?” “What’s important in my work and life?”

The Office of Student Services offers a yearly workshop in the fall semester to introduce Careers in Medicine and the process of Self Assessment.

Other Year One Activities Include

Some of the key organizations that enhance student exposure to different specialties are the Interest Groups. Over the past few years there has been tremendous growth in both the number and activity of these interest groups. Faculty advisors and other interested faculty within specialties also actively participate, and are able to provide students yet another venue through which they can interact directly with these important mentors. The interest groups hold meetings, seminars related to topics within their specialty, and they often help recruit students to attend local and national specialty conferences.

Exploring Options

During this Phase, online AAMC Careers in Medicine tools are available to help students explore the variety of medical specialties and other medical career options.

Online Specialty Pages provide information for over 100 medical specialties with details about nature of the work, personal characteristics, residency requirements, match data, workforce data, salary, and links to other resources. The Office of Student Services continues to provide ongoing guidance to students seeking clinical shadowing opportunities, and other opportunities for professional development:

  • Advanced Clinical Experience (ACE) Program
    This program, started by a Miller School medical student, has been revitalized and expanded. Students have the opportunity to work side-by-side with faculty physicians in a clinical area of interest. Faculty have been selected by peers and their respective Chairs to participate, given their interest in teaching and their clinical expertise. Many of these faculty also participate in the specialty interest groups.
  • Specialty Advisors
  • Alumni Mentors
    Members of the Miller School Medical Alumni Association are available to serve as mentors to medical students. Select Alumni are chosen via their involvement with the Annual Career Advising Dinner. Many Alumni who actively participate in that event, and other alumni events throughout the year, offer to have students work with them in their clinical environments. They are also available to offer advice, answer questions, and provide encouragement to students seeking career guidance. The alumni are utilized to enhance the students’ clinical experiences by exposing them to clinical opportunities often more indicative of careers outside the academic institution in the community-based setting. These experiences broaden their exposure within any given specialty to the realm of medicine outside of their experiences provided on campus within the UM/JMH system.

    At the core of professional development is the ability to take the initiative in diagnosing their needs, formulating their goals, identifying resources, and evaluating outcomes. This workshop reinforces these ideas, and students spend part of the week creating their own plan. Students review their progress with their Faculty Mentor.

Transition to Residency

This phase usually corresponds to ongoing career exploration leading into the Junior year of medical school. During the junior year, the Office of Student Services holds several programs aimed at providing a more in-depth look at certain specialties.

The annual Residency Program Directors Meeting

The residency program directors from the University of Miami/(JMH) meet with junior students in small group settings and provide general information about their specialty programs, the residency application process, and how applicants are evaluated in each particular specialty. Program directors discuss specific information about their programs at JMH.

The annual Career Advising Dinner

 Community physicians and mostly alumni are invited to meet with junior students in a social setting to discuss their career experiences. Tables are arranged by clinical specialty to provide students with an opportunity to ask specialty-specific questions. Physicians representing over 20 specialties attend. Students are encouraged to and often continue to visit with these community alumni physicians in their community-based practices, enhancing their clinical exposure to a varied environment.

Senior Student Panel – Tips for a Successful Match

 This program is intended to provide junior students with peer suggestions for a successful match process. The panel is comprised of senior students who have just completed their residency match process, and are offering advice regarding the process in different specialties.This program is led in conjunction with the junior class leaders.

Learning Modules