Support and Resources

Not only is Becker Library a great place to study with various quiet and private study areas, but there are a lot of resources offered through the library for medical students. The Office of Medical Student Education and Office of Student Financial Planning are located on the third floor of Becker. There are many people available to answer any questions you have regarding the curriculum and finding ways to fund your medical education. We are also given free access to many online resources through the Becker online library, including PubMed, various eJournals, online textbooks, ClinicalKey, UpToDate, and more. Finally, the Becker librarians are very knowledgeable and always around to help you navigate all of these resources and find what you are looking for.

At the start of the school year, we were handed access to a shared Google drive that has a large compilation of notes, Anki decks, and other resources tailored to the Gateway Curriculum. It has been immensely useful to help guide us through the curriculum and let us hit the ground running straight from the start. We are working on assembling this year’s Class Resource Development Group (CRDG) which is a group of students who go through the associated resources from the year to keep the shared resource content matching the curriculum as the Gateway Curriculum evolves!

The opportunity to do research at WashU is uniquely amazing; there are not a lot of institutions as prolific as WashU! In my time doing clinical research, I’ve helped submit a center grant application, crafted letters to the Biden administration and to the USPSTF, and worked on multi-million dollar projects with leaders in the field from across the nation and world. There are so many grants and resources at WashU that it’s kind of ridiculous. Many of my PIs and teammates also consult for industry giants, like Google Health.

During the first week of medical school at WashU, each student is assigned to a small coaching group led by a faculty member. We meet weekly or biweekly to discuss professional identity formation, medical ethics, and our own struggles and accomplishments as medical students. My experience with my own coaching group and coach has been fantastic. We have formed a tight knit group with an open environment where everyone feels comfortable to share the good, the bad, and the ugly of our lives inside and outside of medical school. My coach has been an amazing resource for all sorts of advice and truly cares about each of us as individuals. It is amazing to feel deeply cared about by a faculty member/mentor throughout all four years of medical school.

When I first came to WashU, I knew that I wanted to get involved in the robust and nationally renowned research, but I had no idea where to begin. A month into medical school, Dean Chung gave a talk about her role as the dean of research. I, along with dozens of my classmates, scheduled a call with her, where I described my interests and goals for research. Within one week, she sent me a list of 25-30 potential mentors, who she had personally worked with and whose research aligned with my interests. After that, I emailed some of them and within a month I had projects that I was excited to work on. Dean Chung is an incredible person, mentor, and resource for research here at WashU.

This is what you are reading right now! If you enjoyed doing any kind of school newspaper activity, I think you’ll like working on the Dis-Orientation Guide too. Our team of editors handles all of the organizational and logistical behind-the-scenes work, from recruiting writers to proofreading their submissions. We also work closely with Dean Ratts, the admissions staff, and the graphic design team to create this lovely publication for you all. There are so many reasons to love Wash U and St. Louis, and by gathering perspectives from all of our classmates and faculty, I think we have perfectly showcased everything our school has to offer!

Similarly to many students, I was not sure how the transition to the rigor of medical school would go, especially in a new environment and at an elite medical school. Fortunately for me and my classmates, WashU has a million different ways it supports its students, which has made the transition much easier. All faculty, from our professors to our deans, are approachable and friendly, and they genuinely want to help with whatever you may need. There are sessions throughout Orientation and Module 1 that showcase the unparalleled resources available to students for all aspects of student life and health. Furthermore, my M2 Big Sib has been invaluable to me through this transition, as he has helped show me the ropes of medical school. I am glad a Big Sib/Little Sib program exists as another layer support. The most significant source of faculty support that I have had so far has been through my coaching group with the wonderful Dr. Yau and my seven group mates. They have all been a wonderful source of support throughout the transition into medical school, as we navigate how to best study and live as medical students.

Some of you applying to medical school may have aspirations adjacent to clinical medicine. Perhaps they involve concepts that may seem antithetical to the practice of medicine, like financial management or starting a healthcare business. That’s okay. You’re like me and like the other few students each year who choose to pursue a five-year MD/MBA at WashU.

Whether you want to design a new medical electronic records system, learn how to improve robotic surgery program operations, research health care cost reduction initiatives, or set yourself up for a future that involves medical consulting to life sciences industries, there is a place for you at the Olin School of Business as well as the School of Medicine. The program accepts applicants from any year of medical school, offers tuition-free scholarships, and gives you a broad network of friendly colleagues looking to expand their impact through practical, creative business solutions to everyday problems. Plus, your summer before the program is spent gaining international business acumen while having a 90% paid trip to diverse locations such as Barcelona, Paris, and Santiago (Global Immersion Program, Summer 2022). Feel free to reach out with any questions about logistics or the MD/MBA career path!

Trained to know on-campus and off-campus resources, Peer Advocates serve as accessible, confidential listeners for all medical students with the goal of helping students understand and use mistreatment reporting systems, mental health professional support, and other student resources. Peer Advocates are nominated and elected by their classmates, and they strive to represent and support our diverse student body at WUSM.

The residency application process can be stressful, time-consuming, humbling, and exciting all at the same time. So much work has gone into building this application and now you’re seeing the culmination of your work! It’s your time to shine! Luckily for us, we have Dean Diemer and Angie MacBryde in the Office of Career Counseling to help guide us through the process. We start meeting as third-year students (later in Phase 2 for the new curriculum) to help define our interests, shape our schedules, and find the right mentors in our fields. Meetings become more frequent as applications get submitted and interviews begin. They are both reliable resources for us to answer questions, review materials, and help connect us with other faculty (in and out of WashU) to help us land where we fit best. You’re going to love working with them both as you navigate the residency application process.

It’s hard for me to think of a more supportive community than my fellow classmates here at WashU. When it comes to school, we’re incredibly collaborative — there is a collective understanding that working together, and not competing with each other, is the key to our success. You can always find someone to study with, especially when the content gets tougher, and people eagerly share their notes, Anki decks, and other resources with each other. Classmates not just from your year but years above will go out of their way to connect you with faculty and opportunities and get you involved in anything else you want to do at WashU, and the support extends beyond medical school. We support each other through the small and large struggles of everyday life and look out for each other socially, mentally, and emotionally. We’re all bonded by our shared experience at WashU, and it truly feels like you can turn to anyone for help, even if you don’t always see them. We’re a big family!

Before arriving on campus, all incoming M1s are paired up with at least one M2 to be their “Big Sib” and show them the ropes of transitioning to medical school and St. Louis. While everyone’s relationship with their Big(s) looks a little different, it’s a really great way to start making new friends. I could not be more grateful for my Bigs! They have brought so much joy to my WashU experience. They are my go-to people for advice, encouragement, or a good laugh. It always brightens my day to see them around campus, and I’ve gotten to meet so many upperclassmen through them. Medical school is tough, so having someone you can to turn to who understands exactly what you’re going through is what makes the Big Sibs program so meaningful.

WashU provides us with a free subscription to UWorld for nearly three years, which is quite unique compared to other schools. Additionally, we have Amboss ambassadors in nearly every class who work with Amboss, another great Q bank and resource with excellent Anki integration, to get free trial periods, class discounts (up to 30-40% off), etc. Finally, the Class Resources Development Group has a collection of resources, including notes from previous years, Anki decks from previous years, textbooks, and various other Step 1 and Step 2 resources. Safe to say, you can choose to study from a large variety of free or greatly discounted resources provided by WashU.