SIU Mentorship in Medicine

Mentors will want to get to know you, learn why you’re interested in medicine, and what you have done thus far to make yourself a competitive medical school applicant. Based on your strengths and weaknesses, mentors help identify activities that will foster leadership, service, and improve your exposure to medicine. Mentors will assist you as you create and execute an MCAT study plan, complete medical school applications, and prepare for medical school interviews. Mentors will also help you network in medicine and support your professional development. Each meeting, expect your mentor to help you set new goals, and hold you accountable to those goals.

You should come prepared to meetings, communicate respectfully, and be proactive in working toward your goals. This includes being mindful of your mentor’s time and setting realistic expectations. We suggest you reach out to your mentors once a month via text or email.

Yes, if there are concerns about your mentor, please reach out to insert Edwardsville email if you are an SIUE student or insert carbondale email if you are an SIUC student. Please include an explanation on why you are requesting a different mentor.

Goals could be aimed toward getting involved in a relevant extracurricular, doing well on an exam, improving time management, preparing for the MCAT, completing medical school applications, writing your personal statement, creating a school list (while applying), getting involved in research, and many many more! Your goals will be more specific than this list. For example: “Before our next meeting, I will take 1 full length MCAT practice test and achieve a score >505. I will achieve this by preparing with Kaplan videos, and doing 1 CARS practice passage and 15 stand alone science questions every day for the next month.”

Many of the medical students in the mentorship program participate in research projects. After meeting your mentor, ask them about their research and if they could use a research assistant on any of their projects. Medical students are advised to consider taking mentees, but are not required to.

No. Participating will not guarantee an acceptance into SIU School of Medicine, nor will it give you a direct advantage with SIU School of Medicine admissions. However, it is likely your participation will help you become an informed, well-rounded, and better prepared applicant.

No. This program does not commit you to SIU School of Medicine. While we hope you apply to SIUSOM, our goal is to make you a more prepared pre-med student and a competitive applicant to any medical school.

No. Your participation and performance will not have a direct impact on your admission decision into SIUSOM. Mentors do not report on your performance to the admissions committee or SIU Faculty. Our goal is to create a low stakes environment that allows you to be honest with your mentors regarding strengths and weaknesses throughout your pre-med years. However, strong performance in the MiM program will likely make you a more informed, well-rounded, and better prepared applicant.