Meeting with the Deans’ Staff for Your MSPE 12 June 2014

Purpose of Meeting

• Chance to review your MSPE letter • To make sure you are on target • To identify any additional support

needed • To provide a point of contact

…to provide support and guidance for the match

This is a benefit, not a punishment

What is Discussed in the Meeting

• Review your progress Years 1-4 – Academic – Research – USMLE

• Discuss specialty preference • Review specialty database • Discuss faculty connections and letters of

recommendation

What is Discussed in the Meeting • Couples Match? • Geographic preference • Number of applications planned • Number of interviews scheduled • Number of interviews planned • Likelihood of matching in specialty • Back-up plans • Further assistance needed

If you have concerns, don’t ignore them; come and see us

• If entering “early” Match or highly competitive field, email Julie Brim to let her know

• Early Match = Earlier Appointment • You will be assigned to review with an

Associate/Assistant Dean

Reviewing Your Letter

• You will be contacted via email by Julie Brim regarding your review.

• Please don’t call until you receive an email. • Meetings: June, July, and August • Plan ahead based on your schedule (e.g., if

going to be away) • Come 5-10 minutes early to review MSPE. • Not permitted to take a copy with you

Reviewing Your Letter

MSPE Production

Stacy Drake is the coordinator in the Student Life Office who helps put the MSPE draft together for your review. You may contact/ meet with her for advice / revisions, etc. She is in the same office with Financial Services. Phone: 292-6450

MSPE Components

• Also known as the “Dean’s Letter”

• Detailed information and a sample letter can be found on the Student Life website under Career Advising: http://medicine.osu.edu/students/life/career_advising/ mspe/pages/index.aspx

• The MSPE has 5 sections + Appendices: Identifying Information; Unique Characteristics; Academic History; Academic Progress, and Summary

Reviewing your letter

You will be assigned to review your MSPE with a dean or faculty member. Some of the reviewers work primarily with students in their own specialty.

Section 1: Identifying Information

• Legal name

• Fourth-year medical student

• The Ohio State University College of Medicine

Section 2: Unique Characteristics

• You provided this material in the MSPE Questionnaire (on MedSTAR)

• This section highlights your values, healthcare challenges, accomplishments; research, volunteer, and extracurricular activities; and student achievements.

• Please do not make any changes once you’ve submitted it. Email Stacy Drake if you have changes or additions. We can also make revisions when we meet.

Section 3: Academic History

• Initial matriculation date

– Transfer students: Initial matriculation (prior medical school); date of transfer

– Dual/joint/combined degree students: Initial matriculation; expected graduation

– All require month, date, and year

• Expected graduation date…

Section 3: Academic History Continued

• Explain any extensions, leaves of absence, gaps, or breaks in your educational program

• Any repeats or remediations of any course during your medical education, for example Med 1 or 2, CAPS, rotations. (This does not include exams that had to be remediated.)

• Meetings with an Academic Standing Committee or HPC that lead to the finding of a professionalism lapse.

Section 4: Academic Performance

• Overall performance in IP/ISP and CAPS (i.e.

Satisfactory, Letter of Commendation, or Honors)

• Core clinical clerkships and elective rotations from July 2013 through August 2014 – Listed chronologically – (S, LoC, or Honors) and narrative

September 2014 Clerkship Grades

• Due to the national MSPE deadline of October 1st, September grades will NOT be included on the MSPE.

• In cases where this grade is very important to a student’s application, exceptions to this rule may be made if the clerkship director can obtain evaluations quickly enough to generate the grade – we make no guarantees but will try!

Class standing

• We are a nonranking institution. • A “Cluster Statement” will designate you as: • Outstanding, Excellent, Very Good, Good, or

Capable • Your performance compared to your peers will

only be demonstrated as shown in the appendix bar charts.

Appendix Graphs

• Med 1 and 2 overall comparative performance Med 1 Basic Medical Sciences STUDENT NAME received a Satisfactory

Appendix Graphs

• Med 3 core clerkship comparative performance

Points to Remember

• Your MSPE is forever. Schools and Institutions may request it for residency/ fellowship applications in the future. So it does not mention your desired specialty.

• No letter goes out with an incomplete or unsatisfactory grade.

• The release date is October 1 (even for early Matches).

MSPE Clusters

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What is it?

The MSPE Cluster designation is a student’s

relative position within their class Clusters are determined after all Med 3 grades

are submitted to the Office of Medical Education via MedStar

Approximate Cluster Categories

Outstanding: 90 – 100 Excellent: 70 – 89.99 Very Good: 33 – 69.99 Good: 10 – 32.99 Capable: <10

Cluster Method – Med 1 & 2

Med 1 and 2 = 12 points for each year 10 points for IP/ISP (score %/10) 1 point each for PD/PCM 1 = honors, .9 = letter, .8 = satisfactory

2 points for CAPS 2 = honors, 1.8 = letter, 1.6 = satisfactory

Cluster Method – Med 3

Med 3 = 23 points 4 each for OB, Surgery, IM, and Peds 4 = honors, 2 = letter, 0 = satisfactory, -1 = unsatisfactory with remediation

2 each for Ambulatory, Neuro, Psych 2 = Honors, 1 = Letter, 0 = satisfactory, -1 = unsatisfactory with remediation

Cluster Method – Med 3 continued

1 for Med 3 elective

1 = honors, .5 = letter, 0 = satisfactory, -1 = unsatisfactory with remediation

Cluster summary

At the end of Med 3 you will have a total of 47

points that will be used to determine your cluster

Cluster Questions

If you have questions, please refer to the

Student Life website or call Carla Granger at 292-7690

http://medicine.osu.edu/students/life/career_advising/MSPE/cluster/Pages/index.aspx

Remember the MSPE is a fact-based statement, not a letter of

recommendation

Introducing yourself: Photo/Appearance, CV and Personal Statement

In general….

Skills that can, AND WILL, be assessed by those who read your application:

Attention to Detail Ability to follow directions Effectiveness as a communicator Comportment

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Picture: yes or no? Yes– it does make you

more memorable BUT: be careful what it

reflects…..

Curriculum Vitae

Simply put: Follow the Directions Medical Education Education include study abroad or post bacc or other

degrees Membership and Honorary/Professional

Societies Member? Officer? Elected? Appointed?

CV: Volunteer Experience

List from MOST important/involved to LEAST important/involved

Don’t list anything you can’t talk passionately

about

Don’t list the usual single episode events (e.g., car washes, bake sales)

Don’t list interest groups if you didn’t provide service to others– that is not volunteer work!! If you were the organizing individual, that is

different…

CV: Research Experience

Your position/title Your mentor Brief Synopsis of the work “involved in a senior project to examine issues of

recruitment and retention in the breast cancer navigator patients”

Hobbies and Interests

Here is where you can list interest group participation as a member (rather than a leader) Add any other interests that could prompt a

discussion that you would like to participate in in an interview. If you don’t want to talk about it, don’t list it. NRA advocacy group, PETA membership

Foreign Language Fluency?

Other Awards and Accomplishments

Any merit scholarships count as an award Any Course/Clerkship Honors or Letters of

Commendation can be listed here FYI: Not “letter of accommodation”

Personal Statement

Program Directors read lots of these. Make yours stand out (for good reasons).

Tell a story that made an impact on you and it will make an impact on them. A patient (use initials) that provoked an

emotion in you Tie it in to why you are pursuing the career

you have chosen.

Avoid “why I wanted to be a doctor”– that got you into medical school. Be more specific now.

Personal Statement

Do not go over 1 page. I mean it. No matter how good the story, it isn’t worth it.

“Brevity is the soul of wit” Do not rehash what is on your CV unless it is

part of the story “so then I entered the lab where I soon learned

four thousand PCRs” is boring. “before my eyes, the band appeared. Now I knew

what this patient had” is not

Personal Statement

IF you have a Red Flag, it is wise to discuss briefly Never blame someone else for your failure ▪ “the resident was incompetent and the clerkship

director hated the fact that I reported her to the University President”

Accept personal responsibility and describe how you learned from it. ▪ “The failure of my Medicine Shelf exam provided me

with the opportunity to rethink how to learn in the clinical environment. Since then, I have not only passed, I have aced all of my exams.”

Please talk with a Dean about how to address these issues.

Personal Statement: BEWARE

Stereotypic descriptions “feisty” “swarthy” “cute” (except in reference to

kids) Disparaging medical speak “pimping”, “fleas”, “OSH”

Misspellings or Grammatical Errors Be careful of their, there, they’re

Gimmicks…. “D is for Dermatology” Plagiarism Please have someone else look at your statement

to help identify these things

Don’t wait until the last minute

Write, set it aside, review and rewrite Let someone else read it for content, syntax,

grammar, and miscues Many of us are able to review if you like BUT we won’t write it for you……

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FREIDA

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Fellowship and Residency Electronic Interactive Database

Access System

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FREIDA Online

Sponsored by the AMA 8,700 GME Programs Searchable database

Specialty Information Program

Information Hospital Information

Do I want an orange green or yellow state?

https://freida.ama-assn.org/Freida/user/viewProgramSearch.do

We are here to support you.