Career Advising
welcome to your future as a medical professional
Providing information, insight and advice about your career path in healthcare.
At the CUNY School of Medicine, your growth will be supported by the Medical Student Advisors, who are eager to work with you at every step of your education. The Medical Student Advisors are dedicated to helping you succeed academically, develop professionally, and identify the right specialty based on your goals and interests. Through class sessions, peer workshops, residency panels, individual meetings with your advisor, and much more, Career Advising at the CUNY School of Medicine will provide you with the tools needed to advance to the next stage of your career.
Medical Student Advisors for M1-M4 students:
Dr. Dani McBeth, [email protected] | Dr. Lily Lam, [email protected]
This website contains materials, resources, and links to help you:
Identify opportunities | Consider your career options | Apply for residency programs

Career Pathway Planning
In the M1 year, students begin meeting with their Medical Student Advisor and get introduced to
specialty selection and professional development. You will be introduced to faculty, alumni, special interest groups, and general resources that will help you begin exploring your specialty interests. You will have opportunities to extend your learning and experience beyond the CUNY School of Medicine curriculum by engaging in extracurricular activities or summer fellowships. At this stage, the Career Advising sessions below are designed to help provide a foundation
- Orientation to Career Advising Program and Process
- Building & Addressing Gaps in Your CV
- Understanding Yourself and Demonstration of AAMC Careers in Medicine Website
- Introduction to the MSPE Letter
- Applying for research and summer opportunities
- M2 panel tips for succeeding in your second year of medical school
In the M1 year, students begin meeting with their Medical Student Advisor and get introduced to specialty selection and professional development. You will be introduced to faculty, alumni, special interest groups, and general resources that will help you begin exploring your specialty interests. You will have opportunities to extend your learning and experience beyond the CUNY School of Medicine curriculum by engaging in extracurricular activities or summer fellowships. At this stage, the Career Advising sessions below are designed to help provide a foundation:
- Orientation to Career Advising Program and Process
- Building & Addressing Gaps in Your CV
- Understanding Yourself and Demonstration of AAMC Careers in Medicine Website
- Introduction to the MSPE Letter
- Applying for research and summer opportunities
- M2 panel tips for succeeding in your second year of medical school
In the M2 Year, you will continue to meet with your Medical Student Advisor to craft your individual plan to secure opportunities and experiences to complement your medical education. You will continue to be encouraged to become involved in leadership, extracurricular, volunteer, and research activities, that help support your professional development before starting the rigorous third-year clerkships when your time becomes limited. Career Advising sessions will continue to be foundational and will include:
- Utilizing the AAMC Careers in Medicine
- Addressing Gaps in Your CV
- Review of the MSPE Letter
- Overview of 3rd-year Career Advising Program and Residency Application Elements
- Maximizing Your Clerkship Experience and Clerkship Success
- M3 panel tips for succeeding in your third year of medical school
Welcome to the M3 year! At this point in your education, you will start to seriously consider your specialty and career interest as you utilize the knowledge gained during the preclinical years to participate in direct patient care during your clerkships. Though exciting, it can also be a challenging time for any medical student, so support from your Medical Student Advisor becomes even more important. We are committed to demystifying the residency application process so that you feel confident and prepared while focusing on excelling in your clinical clerkships. Some of the Career Advising sessions will include:
- Overview of Residency Application Elements and Introduction to 4th Year Electives
- 4th Year Schedule Planning and Selection of Core Rotations
- Choosing Electives & Utilizing the Visiting Student Learning Opportunities Service
- Preparing the Personal Statement and Noteworthy Characteristics
- Residency Application Strategy and Utilization of Applications and Tools
- Utilizing ERAS and Introduction to the Match and Specialty Matches
- M4 panel: Maximizing your electives, Tips and Tricks for Residency Application Season
At this stage, you will finalize your specialty choice, engage in complementary elective experiences, identify extramural opportunities at residency programs that you are interested in, complete your residency applications and apply to residency! Career Advising at this stage is focused on helping your craft a polished application, select residency programs that are aligned with your goals, and ultimately match your desired specialty. In addition to virtual sessions where you can get tips and advice from program directors in different specialties, the Career Advising Sessions will include:
• Residency Selection Strategy and Review of ERAS application
• Residency Interview Preparation Video
• Review of MSPE Letter
• Mock Interviews and Feedback on Interview Performance
• Ranking of programs and the match process
• Navigating the SOAP Process and Q&A
The Medical Student Advisors and the Office of Student Affairs provide students with longitudinal, comprehensive career advising. We utilize a team approach to ensure that medical students have accurate, timely, and complete information to make decisions and select a career path that is a good fit. Some of the resources available to students include the Careers in Medicine Program, Specialty Interest Groups, AAMC, national specialty organizations, residency programs, and career advisors. Career advisors are physicians trained in various specialties who can help medical students learn more about that particular field. Many also have expertise and training outside of clinical medicine so they may be able to suggest alternative career pathways in medicine.
Below is a list of the CUNY School of Medicine clinical faculty who have volunteered to serve as Internal Core Career Advisors. They are available to answer your questions about their clinical specialty, subspecialties in their field, and non-clinical experiences, and provide advice. If you would like more information about a specialty not listed below, please reach out to your Medical Student Advisor or the Office of Student Affairs.
CUNY School of Medicine Faculty Member | Specialty | Subspecialty/Interests | |
Danielle Pritchett, MD | Anatomic and Clinical Pathology | Cytopathology | |
Anand Bhatia, MD, MBA | Anatomist | ||
Helen Kurian, MD | Internal Medicine | Anatomist | |
Jun Yoshioka, MD, PhD | Cardiovascular Science | Internal Medicine | |
Darwin Deen, MD, MS | Family Medicine | Nutrition, Acupuncture | |
Naomi Smidt-Afek, MD, MHPE | Family Medicine | ||
Lily Lam, DO | Family Medicine | ||
Elliot Goodman, MD | General surgery | ||
Lisa Auerbach, MD, MS-HPEd | Internal Medicine | Medical Education | |
Erica Lubetkin, MD, MPH | Internal Medicine | Public Health (Effectiveness and Outcomes/Health Policy and Management) | |
Michael Iannuzzi, MD, MBA | Internal Medicine | Pulmonary/Critical Care/Genetics | |
Maria Felice Giliardi, MD | Neurology | Movement Disorders, Neuroplasticity | |
Pearl Myers, MD, MS | Pathology | Pediatric and Perinatal | |
Rosemary Wieczorek, MD | Pathology-Anatomic and Clinical Pathology | Anatomic Pathology: Renal Pathology , GU Pathology, Hematopathology | |
Lisanne Hauck, MD, MSEd | Pediatrics | Pediatric Critical Care, Medical Education | |
Lauren Cochran, MD | Pediatrics | ||
Sandy Saintonge, MD, MPH | Pediatrics, Preventive Medicine | ||
Siobhan Hollander, MD | Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation | ||
Gokhan Yilmaz, MD, PhD | Physiology | Vascular Physiology Pharmacology | |
Daniel Richter, MD | Psychiatry | Eating Disorders | |
Joao Nunes, MD | Psychiatry | Child Psychiatry | |
Victor Schwartz, MD | Psychiatry |
Students at the Sophie Davis Biomedical Education Program/CUNY School of Medicine organize and maintain a number of specialty interest groups (SIG) to more fully expose their peers to specific areas in medicine. These school-sponsored groups offer lectures, workshops, clinical experiences and mentoring. Through participation in the groups, students can become more knowledgeable about a particular specialty to assist in their career decisions. Please email the SIG directly to learn more. Below is a list of the current groups and their contact information:
Group Name | Contact Information |
---|---|
Academic Medicine | [email protected] |
Anesthesiology | [email protected] |
Cardiology | [email protected] |
Dermatology | [email protected] |
Emergency Medicine | [email protected] |
ENT (Otorhinolaryngology) | [email protected] |
Family Medicine | [email protected] |
Gastroenterology | [email protected] |
Internal Medicine | [email protected] |
Neurosurgery | [email protected] |
OB/GYN | [email protected] |
Oncology | [email protected] |
Ophthalmology | [email protected] |
Orthopedic Surgery | [email protected] |
Pathology | [email protected] |
Pediatrics | [email protected] |
Plastic Surgery | [email protected] |
Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (PM&R) | [email protected] |
Psychiatry | [email protected] |
Public Health | [email protected] |
Radiology | [email protected] |
Surgery | [email protected] |
External Research Opportunities
There are also many opportunities available outside of Sophie Davis/CUNY Med. for you to explore. If you have questions about an opportunity including application release dates or deadlines, reach out to the contact person listed on their website to obtain more information. Some of the listed opportunities may have been canceled for this year or postponed; please check back regularly on those sites for updates.
If any of the links are broken or incorrect, please send an email with the details to Ethan Newman: [email protected]
- AAMC Summer Undergraduate Research Programs
- American Museum of Natural History Biology Research Experience for Undergraduates Program
- Association of American Medical Colleges Summer Undergraduate Research Programs
- Brookhaven National Laboratory
- Charles B. Wang Community Health Center Project AHEAD Internship
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Undergraduate Research
- Columbia Mailman Biostatistics Enrichment Summer Training Diversity Program
- Columbia University Summer Public Health Scholars Program (SPHSP)
- Hackensack University Medical Center Volunteer Summer Clinical Research Program
- Harvard Undergraduate Summer Internship
- HealthQuest Vassar Brothers Medical Center Research Internship & Fellowship Programs
- Hospital for Special Surgery Women’s Sports Medicine Center
- Leadership Alliance Summer Research-Early Identification Program
- Massachusetts General Summer Research Trainee Program
- Memorial Sloan Kettering
- Mount Sinai SURP
- National Science Foundation Research Experience REU
- New York Blood Center LFKRI Summer Internship
- New York Stem Cell Foundation Summer Internship Program
- NIST Gaithersburg
- Northwell Health Emergency Medicine Volunteer Research Internship
- Northwell Health Summer Pre-Medicine Program for College Students
- NY Dept. of Health & Mental Hygiene HRTP: A Public Health Internship Program
- NYU Department of Emergency Medicine
- NYU Rusk HCOP Internship Opportunities
- REU (Research Experience for Undergrads): CCNY & Columbia
- Rockefeller University
- Rush Summer Research Scholars Program
- The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research
- The Sackler Institute at NYU School of Medicine
- University of Buffalo Climb Up Smmer Research
- University of Nebraska Lincoln Summer Research Program
- University of North Carolina School of Medicine Summer Undergraduate Research Experience ( rising sophomores, juniors and seniors)
- University of North Carolina School of Medicine Summer of Learning and Research (rising juniors and seniors from diverse groups)
- Weill Cornell ACCESS Summer Internship Program | Undergraduate Research
- Weill Cornell Travelers Summer Research Fellowship Program
- AAMC Summer Undergraduate Research Programs
- American Museum of Natural History Biology Research Experience for Undergraduates Program
- Association of American Medical Colleges Summer Undergraduate Research Programs
- Brookhaven National Laboratory
- Charles B. Wang Community Health Center Project AHEAD Internship
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Undergraduate Research
- Columbia Mailman Biostatistics Enrichment Summer Training Diversity Program
- Columbia University Summer Public Health Scholars Program (SPHSP)
- Hackensack University Medical Center Volunteer Summer Clinical Research Program
- Harvard Undergraduate Summer Internship
- HealthQuest Vassar Brothers Medical Center Research Internship & Fellowship Programs
- Hospital for Special Surgery Women’s Sports Medicine Center
- Leadership Alliance Summer Research-Early Identification Program
- Massachusetts General Summer Research Trainee Program
- Memorial Sloan Kettering
- Mount Sinai SURP
- National Science Foundation Research Experience REU
- New York Blood Center LFKRI Summer Internship
- New York Stem Cell Foundation Summer Internship Program
- Northwell Health Emergency Medicine Volunteer Research Internship
- Northwell Health Summer Pre-Medicine Program for College Students
- NY Dept. of Health & Mental Hygiene HRTP: A Public Health Internship Program
- NYU Department of Emergency Medicine
- NYU Rusk HCOP Internship Opportunities
- REU (Research Experience for Undergrads): CCNY & Columbia
- Rockefeller University
- Rush Summer Research Scholars Program
- The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research
- University of Buffalo Climb Up Summer Research
- University of Nebraska Lincoln Summer Research Program
- University of North Carolina School of Medicine Summer Undergraduate Research Experience ( rising sophomores, juniors and seniors)
- University of North Carolina School of Medicine Summer of Learning and Research (rising juniors and seniors from diverse groups)
- Weill Cornell ACCESS Summer Internship Program | Undergraduate Research
- Weill Cornell Travelers Summer Research Fellowship Program
- AAMC Careers in Medicine Clinical and Research Opportunities
- AMA Government Relations Advocacy Fellow
- AMSA-Kaiser Permante Education and Advocacy Fellow
- CHOP Benjamin Fox Orthopaedic Research Scholar Award
- Harvard Kennedy School Fellowships
- NIH Medical Research Scholars Program
- NYU Orthopedic Research Opportunties
- Poggi Pediatric Orthopaedics Research Fellowship
- Sarnoff Fellowship Program
- University of Iowa Ruth Jackson-Steindler Orthopedic Clerkship
- Various Orthopedic Research Fellowship Opportunities
- Washington University Otolaryngology T32 Predoctoral Training Program
- Washington University TL1 Predoctoral Clinical Research Program
- American Academy of Dermatology Diversity Mentorship Program
- American Academy of Ophthalmology Minority Ophthalmology Mentoring for Students
- American College of Radiology Pipeline Initiative for the Enrichment of Radiology
- ASTRO Minority Summer Fellowship Award
- Children’s Hospital LA Summer Oncology Research Fellowship
- Chinese American Medical Society Summer Research Fellowship
- Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
- CUPID Summer Translation Oncology Program
- Gold Student Summer Fellowship program
- Harvard Visiting Research Internship Program
- Harvard-Longwood Short-Term Research Training in Vascular Surgery (NIH-T35)
- Hospital for Special Surgery Medical Student Summer Research Fellowship
- James A. Ferguson Emerging Infectious Diseases Research Initiatives for Student Enhancement Fellowship Program
- Massachussetts General Summer Trainee Program
- Mayo Clinic Summer Research Fellowship
- Medical Student Anesthesia Research Fellowship
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Medical Student Summer Fellowship Program
- National Student Injury Research Training Program
- Neurosurgery Research and Education Foundation Medical Student Summer Research Fellowship
- NIDDK Medical Student Research Program in Diabetes
- NYU Emergency Medicine Fellowship for Underrepresented Minorities in Medicine
- PM&R Medical Student Summer Clinical Externship
- Simon Kramer Society Externship in Radiation Oncology
- Summer Program in Obesity, Diabetes and Nutrition Research Training
- Summer Medical Student Fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- Virginia Commonwealth University Department of Pediatrics Summer Scholars
- Baylor Diversity-Oriented Away Clerkships and Rotations
- Brown Diversity in Medicine Visiting Student Scholarship Program
- Children’s National Minority Senior Scholarship Program
- Duke University School of Medicine Visiting Clinical Scholars Program
- Funded Away Rotations for Minority Medical Students (FARMS) Database
- Icahn Visiting Electives Program for Students Underrepresented in Medicine Fellowship Program
- John Hopkins Visiting Elective Program for Students Underrepresented in Pediatrics
- Seattle Children’s Funded Visiting Electives for Underrepresented Minorities
- UCSF Visiting Elective Scholarship Program
-
University of Alabama Underrepresented in Medicine Senior Scholarship Program for Pediatrics
University of North Carolina Larry D. Keith Scholarship for Visiting Student Electives


Preparation Materials
- AAMC Roadmap to Residency
- AAMC Careers in Medicine
- ABMS guide to medical specialties
- Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) specialties requiring a preliminary/transitional year
- ACGME Residency Program Accreditation
- American Urological Association Match (Urology)
- Apply Smart: Data to Consider When Applying to Residency
- Couples Match
- Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS)
- FRIEDA AMA Residency Program Database
- National Residency Matching Program (The MATCH)
- NRMP Match Data and Reporting
- Residency Explorer Tool
- SF Match (Ophthalmology & Plastic Surgery)
- What is the match?
- 2020 NRMP Program Director
- Letters of Recommendation Materials
- Interview Preparation Materials
- 6 Ways to Ace Scenario Based Questions
- AAMC Frequent Interview Questions
- Behavioral Interviewing for Residency
- CUNY Med Virtual Residency Interviews Presentation
- How to Approach Virtual Interviews
- Interview Tips from CUNY Med Graduates
- Three Challenging Interview Questions and How to Answer Them
- Virtual Interview Applicant Preparation Guide
- What to Ask During the Residency Interview
- Personal Statement Preparation Materials
- Class of 2022 Career Advising and Residency Application Timeline
- Core Values List
- CUNY Med M4 Elective Instructions Reference Guide
- CUNY Med Independent/Research Elective Proposal Form
- CUNY Med Domestic Waiver & Emergency Contact Form
- CUNY Med VLSO Transcript Request Form
- CUNY Med List of Extramural Affiliation Agreements
- VSLO Student Essentials
- VSLO Training
- VSLO Sample Application Photos
- AAMC Standardized Immunization Form
- CUNY Med VSLO FAQs
- VSLO Application Checklist