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Office of Student Affairs

Houston, Texas

Office of Student Affairs - student engaged in various BCM activities
Office of Student Affairs
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Career Counseling

Deans in the Office of Student Affairs provide extensive academic, career and personal counseling. Activities include:

  1. careers counseling imagesPre-clinical Resource Network (PRN): Peer counseling groups for first year students. Each group of 10 to 12 students is joined by students from the second, third and fourth years, and one or two faculty advisors. House staff who are Baylor graduates also participate. Recreational activities are conducted by each group.
  2. Career Counseling Program called Careers in Medicine: This is a four phase program that begins the first year of medical school and continues through the third year with the Residency Planning Workshop; and concludes with personal counseling in the fourth year. It is designed to empower students to make informed decisions about their lives and careers.
  3. National Residency Matching Program (NRMP): The Senior Associate Dean explains how "the Match" works, and how to maximize one's chances of getting the best residency position.
  4. Graduate Training Programs (Residencies) – The Office of Student Affairs provides services to help students seek positions in graduate training programs.
    • In the spring of each year, a Residency Planning Workshop is conducted for the third-year class. Topics covered include interview timelines, specialty information, electives away, the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) and National Residency Matching Program (NRMP). A dean in the Office of Student Affairs will meet with each student and offer advice concerning residencies. A dean's letter of evaluation and a transcript will be sent to the director of each program to which the student applies.
    • Students should plan on residency program interview trips in the fall and winter of their fourth year. Students need to plan their schedules such that interviews do not interfere with their clinical and educational responsibilities. For details please refer to the policy on student absenteeism during core rotations.
    • Most students will choose to secure their first-year graduate training position through the NRMP. To do so, the student must sign an agreement with the NRMP in the summer preceding graduation and abide by the rules of the NRMP. Subsequent withdrawal of the student from the NRMP requires a Student Withdrawal Form and approval of a Dean in the Office of Student Affairs. Students list their rank order of choices for positions by mid-February and learn of the results of the matching program in mid-March. Any student who does not adhere to the NRMP deadlines is excluded from the Match. Students who find hospitals which violate the rules of the NRMP should report such violations to a Dean in the Office of Student Affairs.
    • A listing of all approved residencies and a description of all requirements of specialty boards are provided annually to the Office of Student Affairs. This program includes demographic information on all programs that participate in the NRMP.
    • Students seeking positions in graduate training programs not processed by the NRMP are not subject to the rules of the NRMP, but are governed by contractual agreements between the two parties (i.e., students and hospitals). Separate match programs exist for some specialties. Information is available from a Dean in the Office of Student Affairs.
  5. Licensure: The senior associate and associate dean in conjunction with the Registrar and members of the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners go over licensure considerations, and explain how to become licensed and to get reciprocity.

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