Lectures, labs and clinical experience are central to any medical school’s curriculum. They are where aspiring physicians acquire the knowledge and skills they’ll use for the length of their careers – how to examine patients, recognize diseases and recommend courses of action.
But where can students find the nonmedical guidance that’s also essential to a successful career as a physician – for example, how to choose a specialty, network with other doctors, or balance work and life?
That’s where mentoring comes in. To help students prepare for life as osteopathic medical professionals, WVSOM offers several programs that pair those enrolled in school with alumni, physicians and even other students who are further along in their education.
In January 2018, the Office of Alumni Relations implemented the WVSOM Student Mentor Program, whose goal is to foster long-lasting professional relationships between medical students and alumni that will help students become compassionate, caring physicians and strong community leaders. Since the program began, 182 WVSOM students have been assigned mentors.
“One of the strengths of osteopathic medicine is its focus on relationships, and for that reason, mentoring is consistent with the tenets of the osteopathic profession,” said Emily Hall, D.O., a 2011 WVSOM graduate who has served as a mentor since the program began. Hall, who completed a residency in Tanzania and now works as a pediatrician on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana, said it’s exciting to watch students decide which specialty to pursue.
Hall currently mentors second-year WVSOM student Lalan Shah and sees her role as providing support when and if her mentee needs it. “I make myself available as needed, but I try not to put expectations on the student, because I know how busy medical school is,” she said. “I tell him to do what makes him feel alive, what’s exciting to him.”
Shah, who hopes to practice in his home state of West Virginia, speaks with Hall at least monthly, and sometimes more. He said Hall’s experience in low-resource medical settings has opened his eyes to potential career paths.
“She’s the only pediatrician in a 140-mile stretch, and she does everything from inpatient pediatrics to emergency medicine to air medical services,” Shah said. “I didn’t even know options like that were available. It’s nice to talk with someone who can give you a new perspective, and to have someone who can give you reassurance during stressful times.”
Christine Moore, D.O., a 2016 WVSOM graduate and mentor who is an internal medicine resident at East Tennessee State University, emphasized that mentors can play a critical role in preparing students for the challenging transition from medical school to residency. Sometimes that takes the form of advice; at other times it might mean helping a mentee find a match location.
“Students don’t know what it’s like to be a resident,” she said. “So we’ll talk about what it’s like, not just the difficulty involved but the joy of being a physician, which sometimes gets lost when you’re studying or concerned about your performance on your last exam. I tell my mentee that board scores matter, but that as you get further along in your career, what really makes a difference is the people you know. Most residents have connections in places where we can say, ‘I have a medical student who’s interested. Do you know of anything available?’”
Mentoring doesn’t solely benefit those seeking guidance: The mentors often gain personal fulfillment through nurturing medical students. Class of 2017 alumnus Olabode Agaja, D.O., a resident at Children’s Hospital of Michigan, said the program offers a way for those who have previously received guidance to “pay it forward.”
“Someone was there for me once, and I want to do the same for others,” Agaja said. “Any profession benefits from having a mentor-mentee service. It helps people learn from the mistakes others have made so they can avoid making the same mistakes themselves. It’s also just good to know that someone else has been in the same place you’re in.”
Guiding future rural health providers
WVSOM’s Rural Health Initiative (RHI) Mentoring program, designed to enhance the school’s primary care curriculum in order to produce graduates qualified to practice medicine in rural or underserved communities, established a mentoring program in 2013. Those who are mentored through the program are asked to later serve as mentors to others. Today, the program encompasses alumni who are practicing physicians and mentor third- and fourth-year RHI students; alumni who are medical residents and mentor second-year students; and third- and fourth-year RHI students who mentor undergraduates at their own alma maters.
Third-year RHI student Joshua Ennis is mentored by Class of 2016 alumnus Mark Yost, D.O. Ennis said Yost’s guidance helped him successfully prepare for the COMLEX Level 1 exam last summer. As Ennis prepares for life after medical school, he has called on Yost for advice about audition rotations and residency interviews.
“We talk about once a month to see how things are going,” Ennis said. “It’s beneficial to have someone who’s been through this so recently, to have that person you can sit down and discuss something you need extra help with.”
Fourth-year RHI student Janet Kowalsky said her mentor, Ryan Runyon, D.O., has impressed upon her some of the challenges inherent in practicing medicine in rural and underserved areas.
“In rural health, many of your patients may not have good insurance coverage, or they may have a hard time just getting to their appointment,” Kowalsky said. “He has shown me that you have to be understanding of that. He’s also taught me that as a medical student, it’s important to take time for yourself, because you can’t be successful in other parts of your life if you’re not taking care of yourself.”
Helping students succeed
Mentoring is also vital to the success of students who receive financial assistance through the Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students grant offered by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). WVSOM implemented the grant beginning with the 2016-17 academic year, and it’s available to up to six students per year who demonstrate financial need and whose backgrounds meet certain eligibility requirements.
Biomedical faculty member Karen Wines has mentored students with HRSA scholarships since the scholarship’s inception at WVSOM. Her time with the program has enabled her to watch future physicians grow as they make their way through medical school. She believes mentors should be open-minded, compassionate, selfless and good listeners, and should think of themselves as coaches who inspire, not advisors who place judgment.
“I first worked with second-year students who are now in their fourth year, so it’s been nice to be able to follow their progress,” Wines said. “Every first-year student goes through a moment when they realize that they’ve never done anything this difficult before. You can see it: Some of them don’t sleep, some lose or gain weight. So it’s not a bad idea to check in periodically and see how they’re doing.”
Second-year student and HRSA grant recipient Natan Harel is a nontraditional student and a parent to a 2-year-old daughter. He said having a mentor who is also balancing professional and family obligations has been helpful.
“My mentor, Kristina Harvell, D.O., is also a parent,” he said. “One of my biggest challenges is not having as much time for my family as I’d like. She’s taught me that medicine can eat up as much time as you give it, so having someone to talk to about maintaining a family and a happy relationship is important.”
First-year student Andrew Baker, another HRSA grant recipient, said the benefits of mentorships also extend directly to the educational process, especially when the mentor is also a faculty member. Baker is mentored by WVSOM biomedical professor Tuoen Liu, M.D.
“You’re already going to their office every month, so it makes it easy to ask for help during their office hours when you have something you need clarified from class,” Baker said. “It helps you build better relationships with professors. And for students who are more reserved and don’t want to ask questions during lectures, this gives them an opportunity to ask for more information.”
Ultimately, though, most students say the value of mentoring comes down to realizing that they’re not alone, that others who came before them were able to endure the rigors of medical school and find successful careers as physicians.
“It’s amazing to see what other WVSOM students have become because it shows you what you can accomplish,” Shah said. “I got pretty lucky in being placed with my mentor, because she’s given me great advice. When I need help, she’s there.”