Student Handbook - Academic and Career Advising

The Office of Academic and Career Advising can be reached via email at COM.ACAdvising@msu.edu, in person, or by telephone. To schedule an appointment with an advisor please utilize MSU’s Student Information System. Appointments are available at each site or via Zoom throughout the four-year curriculum.

In addition to working directly with an advisor, students have access to a variety of academic support resources directly from the Academic and Career Advising website and the On Target for Academic Success SharePoint site. Available materials include semester roadmaps, course study guides, handouts, self-assessments, timelines, and videos, and address topics regarding academic skills and strategies, peer tutoring, and more.

Academic Success Check-Up

During the preclerkship portion of the curriculum, student academic performance will be monitored and reviewed by the Office of Academic and Career Advising for indicators of marginal performance (i.e., risk factors) that may place the student at increased risk for negative academic outcomes (e.g., academic dismissal or failure of licensure exams) and/or jeopardize their ability to obtain a residency training position. Students identified will be notified and required to attend a one-on-one mandatory Academic Success Checkup with a college academic advisor.

Academic Success Workshops

The college offers resources to enhance skills in self-directed learning. These include a series of Academic Success Workshops organized and presented by the On Target for Academic Success Team. The objectives of the workshops are to help students think about what they are learning in a way that allows them to process and connect the information through pattern recognition and application of knowledge.

Beginning the first preclerkship year and extending through graduation, students meet with advisors through both one-on-one and group meetings to plan for specialty selection and graduate medical education.

Students will schedule a mandatory career planning meeting with a career advisor during the preclerkship curriculum to ensure they are accurately informed, on track, and educated about career planning and the residency application process. In addition to required meetings, students may also voluntarily seek career-related counsel and may schedule an appointment with any of the career advisors via email, phone, Zoom or in person. Each student is also provided with a subscription to the Careers in Medicine service of the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC).

Career advising topics include base hospital selection, specialty selection, building a competitive portfolio, gauging competitiveness for specialty choices and residency programs, selecting residency programs, addressing application red flags, navigating Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS), preparing for interview season, creating rank order lists, and dealing with a failure to match. Advisors also assist students in identifying alternative career paths if they have had a change of heart about pursuing medicine or if for whatever reason they are not able to be successful in the medical school curriculum.

Other career related advising programs and services include:

• Group presentations and webinars
• Resident and physician mentoring programs
• Online video modules
• ERAS support
• Personal statement and curriculum vitae writing assistance and proofreading services
• Weekly career planning update communications

As described in the Policies and Procedures section of this Student Handbook, MSUCOM students are required to take and pass the Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensure Examination of the United States (COMLEX-USA) Level 1 and Level 2 Cognitive Evaluation (2-CE) as a requirement for conferral of the DO degree.

MSUCOM provides guidance and resources to assist students in preparing for the licensure examinations. In OMS-II and OMS-III, each student will have access provided by the college to a nationally recognized question bank (COMBANK, TrueLearn) as a tool for self-assessment and preparation for the NBOME examinations. Resources and strategies for preparing for licensure board examinations (“board prep”) are available through the Office of Academic and Career Advising and highlighted during just-in-time orientation programs, newsletters, and online video modules.

The PEAK Program for Healthy Cognitive Living and Academic Success was developed and is facilitated by Mangala Sadasivan, Ph.D. This program promotes cognitive health by emphasizing principles of learning and the use of internal controls to help balance emotional and cognitive demands, resulting in efficiency and maximization of learning potential. MSUCOM students may be referred to the PEAK program based on poor academic performance and need to develop study skills, test-taking skills and/or time management skills. An evaluation process is used to determine if an individual student is suitable for the PEAK program. Additional information about the PEAK program is available through Academic and Career Advising.