OSR Liaison Update - GSA Steering Committee
July 2009
2010 National Spring Meeting
All four regions of the GSA/GDI/OSR will meet April 17-21, 2010 in Austin,
Texas for a national spring meeting in place of separate regional meetings.
The theme of the meeting is "REsponsibly FORMing Our
Future: Hitting the Right Note in Austin". OSR regional chair-elects
recently met with members of the GSA and GDI in Austin and planning for
the meeting is well underway with sessions slated on healthcare reform,
service through learning, medical education reform, and many others. More
information about the meeting will be sent out over the GSA and OSR listserves
closer to the meeting date.
Mental Health and Wellness
The GSA recently completed a survey asking student affairs deans to
assess the availability and affordability of mental health services at
AAMC member medical schools as well as mental health issues faced by medical
students. As a follow-up to this survey, the OSR Student Affairs Committee
and OSR Ad Board created a student version that was administered in the
Spring of 2009. Regional GSA/OSR meetings have included sessions on mental
health and wellness and a joint plenary session will be held at the 2009
Annual Meeting in Boston to further examine mental health issues and how
they affect medical education.
Scramble Working Group
The AAMC and NRMP are continuing work to improve the Scramble process,
creating a new system that utilizes ERAS to aid unmatched applicants in
pairing with programs that have unfilled residency positions after the
Match. Presentations outlining the proposed "Managed Scramble" were given
during the spring GSA/OSR meetings; a copy of the presentation can be
viewed online. A date for conversion to the new scramble process has not
been finalized, but the goal is for implementation by the 2013 match.
Importantly, the managed scramble would not be a "second match," but rather
a more effective process of helping unmatched applicants secure training
positions left unfilled after the match.
Fourth Year Electives and VSAS
Currently in its second year of use, the Visiting Student Application
Service (VSAS) is an AAMC application designed to make it easier for medical
students to apply for senior electives at other U.S. medical schools.
This year 64 medical schools are offering electives through VSAS, and
feedback from students as well as participating medical schools is being
used to continue to improve the system. Issues being examined include
the need for a standardized immunization record, student insurance while
on away rotations, and the use/need of affiliation agreements for away
rotations. More information about VSAS can be found at http://www.aamc.org/programs/vsas/
MSPE
A new working group met to discuss the MSPE (Medical Student Performance
Evaluation) and examine issues such as the best deadline for the letter,
the ideal content, and use of the letter to determine interview offers
/ rank list preference. OSR liaisons to the GSA are serving on this working
group, which will assist the GSA-SC in any future recommendations it makes
about changes to the MSPE.
Matthew Rudy
OSR Chair
Medical College of Georgia SOM
mrudy@mail.mcg.edu
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