Panels and Workshops with MSBS

Written by the MSBS Program

We all have things we miss about being in-person, from studying over lunch to enjoying a break with your colleagues over the weekend. Here in the MSBS program, we are all feeling the pangs of missed memories we have had with Alumni, like our large potluck with MSBS students and faculty right before the Thanksgiving break. However, thanks to creativity and Zoom, our students have not missed out on opportunities to meet with University leadership, as well as RVU’s different programs.

Instead of enjoying breakfast with Dr. Thomas Told, Regional Director of Clinical Education for RVU-SU, for his Breakfast Panels with MSBS, our combined cohorts met with him over Zoom meetings in the fall semester. They asked Dr. Told questions about his rural medicine experiences and even heard some of the grisly details! The students welcomed RVU’s new Provost and President, Dr. David Forstein and asked him many questions about his educational background. With each panel, the students were amazed at how they could meet with and talk to our campus leaders when it was unheard of during their undergraduate work.

While meeting with different campus leaders is tremendous and something unique about RVU, the MSBS students also got a chance to meet with our other programs. The students met with leadership from the Physician Assistant (PA) Program: Ms. Cathy Ruff, Program Director and Chair, Ms. Darcy Solanyk, Associate Program Director, and Peggy Walsh, Director of Clinical Education. Together, they discussed what the PA Program looks like and the main differences between nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and physicians. Many of the students left the panel excited to hear of different opportunities they haven’t considered before. Once again, they were happy to have this experience meeting another set of leaders on campus. As of this writing, they have one more fascinating panel to look forward to: our College of Osteopathic Medicine Panel.

We also want to highlight the Study Skills workshops that Judy Thornton, Director of Education Support, holds twice a year for our students. The first covers our students’ necessary study skills to succeed in our program and reminds them to seek her if they need further assistance. The second workshop focuses on our Comprehensive Exam. The students love these workshops because it helps bring them back on track to reevaluate their current study systems.

Another important workshop for the success of our students is the Resume and CV workshop led by Trilce Ruiz, Career Advisor, as well as training with Writing Center Coordinators, Alexis Horst and Lynne Stephenson in writing personal statements, essays, and other projects. Writing resumes and curriculum vitaes is something most of us struggle with and our fantastic career advisors can quickly identify the critical mistakes we all make and how to properly fix them! Supplementing their new writing skills with a (virtual) trip to the Writing Center, our students leave with perfectly crafted cover letters and personal statements. Our students consistently leave so impressed with all of the work that goes into our workshops.

While we wish these could all be in person with yummy snacks and the comfort of the MSBS Classroom, these panels and workshops were still a homerun to our students. These workshops and panels would not have been as successful without the expertise, creativity, and passion from our panelists and workshop leaders.

Thank you all for supporting the MSBS Program and our students and taking time out of your day to meet with us! It is so appreciated from all levels of the program. We look forward to being able to do this all again next year!

This article was originally published in the September 2021 of the Vista View Newsletter, which can be found here.