Open AccessOffice of Student Affairs: Engagement and Leadership Opportunities for Medical Students, Residents, and Fellows
Author(s) -
Sunny Nakae,
Yolanda Haywood,
Latanya J. Love,
Pooja Kothari,
Fidencio Saldaña,
John Paul Sánchez
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
mededportal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.281
H-Index - 5
ISSN - 2374-8265
DOI - 10.15766/mep_2374-8265.11093
Subject(s) - student affairs , medical education , psychology , political science , medicine , higher education , law
Exposing trainees to roles within medical school offices is an important, but often overlooked, component of academic medicine career development. This module described the roles and responsibilities of staff within the Office of Student Affairs (OSA) and opportunities for trainees to become engaged, lead, and develop student affairs-related competencies. Methods The 90-minute workshop was presented at three regional conferences at US medical schools between September and December 2019. Participants were medical students, residents, and fellows from multiple institutions. The workshop consisted of a didactic portion describing OSA responsibilities and guiding principles, reflection exercises to gauge learners' engagement with the OSA, and case discussions on how trainees have led scholarly student affairs-related projects. Results Among 28 participants, over 90%, agreed that each of the workshop objectives was met. Using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, there was a statistically significant increase ( p < .001) in participants' confidence to “list skills to be an effective advisor in the OSA,” and, “Advocate for student issues through the OSA.” Discussion Trainees not only have the opportunity to access services through the OSA, but also serve and develop foundational competencies to eventually serve in an OSA leadership position. This workshop provided trainees early exposure to OSA administration to realize a career in academic medicine beyond the faculty role.