Careers in Medicine

Thomas E. McWilliams, D.O., FACOFP

Associate Dean – ATSU/SOMA

Professor – Family Practice/Emergency Medicine

A structured, four-phase/four-year career planning program

Provides students with a strategy for:

• Understanding themselves and the world of work

• Choosing a specialty and residency program

• Making career and life decisions

Careers in Medicine Overview

Careers in Medicine activities:

help educate students on career options;

help improve their medical specialty literacy; and

teach decision-making skills.

Theoretical Foundations

Careers in Medicine Model

Implementation

Self- Assessment

Decision- making

Career/SpecialtyExploration

Residency in Chosen Specialty

Gathering information about self: Who Am I?

What past experiences influenced my career decisions?

What do I like to do?

What is important to me?

What are my greatest strengths?

What are my work environment preferences?

Phase 1: Self-Assessment

Phase 1: Self-AssessmentPersonal Review

Interests

Values

Environmental Factors and Practice Needs

Personality

Skills

Financial Situation

Educational Experiences

Things you enjoy doing

Three options:

Option A – Medical Specialty Preference Inventory (MSPI), 2nd Edition

Option B – Party Game/Self-appraisal

Option C - Self-Directed Search

Interests

Life principles that influence you and the decisions you make

Three options: Option A - Physician Values in Practice Scale (PVIPS) Option B - Values Checklist

Indicate degree of importance for each value in the list

Select most important and rank Option C - Values Card Sort

Experiential, hands-on activity

Values

Measures preferences for

• Practice types

• Size and location of practice

• Working environment

Results are likely to change over time depending on experience

Especially useful for residency program selection

Environmental Factors and Practice Needs

Who you are and how you relate with others

Two options:

• Option A - The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®

• Option B - The Keirsey Temperament Sorter

Personality

What you do well

Two options:

• A - Informal Skills Assessment

• B - Skills Assessment with Feedback

Focus is on cross functional, or transferable skills

Skills

Phase 1: Putting It All Together—The Personal Profile

A personal record of the results of their self-assessment activities

Provides direction for the student in the search for “compatible specialties”

Confidential – only the student can access their personal profile

Phase 2: Career Exploration

Gathering information about career options…

What specialties exist, what do they do, & what are the people like in that specialty?

What practice settings are open to me?

What non-traditional/non practitioner options are available?

How do my personal characteristics match with the specialties I am exploring?

Duties, tasks, responsibilities

Knowledge, skills and abilities

Work environment / conditions

Earnings

Workforce information

Future of the specialty

Preparation

Methods of entry

Industries/employers/practice environments

Types of Career Information

Getting Personal: Conduct more in-depth, personal

research on remaining specialties & career

options

Narrow down to three to

five options

During this phase, students must understand the world of work by gathering

information about options available

Start with high level exploration (All options, general information)

The Process of Career Exploration

Conduct library research

Conduct online research

• CiM Specialty Pages (112 specialties covered)

• AMA FREIDA

Specialty Statistics & Physician Workforce Data

• Specialty organizations

Attend school-organized specialty seminars and programs

• School programs (brown bag presentations, panels)

• Specialty Interest Groups

Beginning Career Exploration

Career Exploration: Getting Personal

Use information gathered to narrow down to 3-5 options for more in-

depth research

Contact medical societies, alumni groups, and specialty associations

• Review Publications – journals/newsletters

• Student membership

• Local chapter or activities

Participate in preceptorships

Conduct informational interviews

• To learn about specialty areas

• To articulate career objectives.

• To learn about new developments

• To build a network

Explore clinical clerkships

Career Exploration: Getting Personal (cont.)

How do I go about weighing the information I’ve learned about

who I am and the knowledge I’ve gained about career

options?

What are my best matches?

How do I evaluate my decision?

How do I select residencies that will fit my needs and

preferences?

Phase 3: Decision-making

Phase 3: Decision-makingDecision 1: Specialty Choice

• Select most important self-assessment information

• Compare with top specialties

• Determine which is the best fit

Decision 2: Selecting Residency Programs

• Retake Environmental Factors assessment

• Identify top factors

• Compare to residency programs under consideration

Phase 4: Implementation

Re-evaluation and follow-up

Clinical clerkships and electives

Applying for residency

The Match(s)

Moving on…

Careers in Medicine Web sitewww.aamc.org/careersinmedicine – click login

Online career assessment tools

Decision-making tools

Specialty pages for 112 specialty areas, including:

• Description of the specialty

• Personal characteristics

• Training and residency information

• Compensation information

• Workforce data

• Links to over 1000 specialty organizations, journals & publications

Student Evaluation of Careers in Medicine Website

4.564.2

4.54.22

3.63

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Use

ful

Un

der

stan

din

gse

lf

Exp

lori

ng

op

tio

ns

Ch

oo

sesp

ecia

lty

Get

in

tore

sid

ency

GRADING SCALE

6 = Extremely helpful

5 = Quite helpful

4 = Helpful

3 = Somewhat helpful

2 = Not very helpful

1 = Useless