Match(es) made in heaven
Medical Specialty Speed Dating event connects future and current physicians in camaraderie and conversation
February 27, 2015While it isn’t the Match with a capital “M,” OHSU School of Medicine students recently participated in a matching event of another sort, the kind that gets them thinking about their prospective specialties.
From pediatrics to emergency medicine, and from diagnostic radiology to ophthalmology, alumni, faculty and residents offered their support and experience to first- and second-year M.D. students at this annual event designed to connect future to current physicians. The goal is to expose students to multiple specialties and career stages, increasing their knowledge of potential career paths and assisting them in their professional development. Groups of students spend approximately 12 minutes conversing with a physician about his or her practice area and career before moving on to another specialty of their choosing.
This year, students met with 32 physicians, 17 of whom are current School of Medicine faculty members, 16 of whom are alumni and five of whom are current residents.
Lynne Booth, MS1, says the event fits in well with the medical specialty course she’s taking and gave her further opportunity for exposure to diverse career paths. “I’m interested in a lot of things, and going into this event I was leaning toward family medicine, internal medicine or some sub-specialty of internal medicine….but it was good to get a flavor of specialties I hadn’t seen before. For example, I really enjoyed the infectious disease doctors I spoke with,” she said.
“I learned a lot about daily life in certain specialties. I never knew what a field like urology entailed. So I was able to sit down, almost one-on-one with a urologist, and learn about his day-to-day work.” – Katherine Holste, MS1
For Booth, it was particularly relevant to speak with physicians who work in a variety of settings. She said, “I spoke with a neurologist who has his own practice. It’s one of my fears about medical school – that I’ll graduate and never be able to open a private practice. But speaking with a doctor in private practice and hearing how he makes it work, that was encouraging.”
Medical Specialty Speed Dating, sponsored by the School of Medicine Alumni Association, is organized and run by the OHSU Foundation’s Alumni Relations & Educational Development program.
Calling all physicians!
Are you interested in participating in a future Medical Specialty Speed Dating event? Contact Alison Dillon at (503) 220-8327 for more information.