Virtual Online Happy Hours for Minority Medical Student Mentoring

Sponsored by the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine Group on Minority Health and Multicultural Education.
Funded in part by a grant from the STFM Foundation Group Project Fund.

This project has concluded.
Audio recordings are available below.

From April 2013 through January 2014 minority medical students were invited to participate in a series of online monthly meetings or virtual “happy hours” to discuss a topic of relevance, have questions answered, seek support in navigating tough situations, and to provide and receive rich peer and facilitator support. We initially gathered together in the virtual world of Second Life, in a beautiful seaside amphitheater developed by Boston University Medical School. We conducted the final two sessions as online webinars using Join.Me. There was no cost for participation. Second Life and Join.Me are free.

Medical school can be a stressful and trying time for most students, and even more so for minority students who may feel isolated, under-supported, and at times the focus of unintentional or intentional individual and institutional unfairness. At the same time, the United States is looking to increase the number of physicians, particularly in family medicine and primary care, from a full array of diverse backgrounds to serve the many underserved patients and communities across the land. This is an important component of meeting the challenge to decrease health inequities, which is a key objective of the STFM Group on Minority Health and Multicultural Education.

Schedule and Topics


April 11, 2013: Navigating Racism and Fairness Issues in Medical School
May 16, 2013: Exploring Well-Being and Life Balance
June 13, 2013: Being Mentoreed and Becoming a Mentor
July 18, 2013: Enhancing Assertiveness Skills
August 15, 2013: Preparing for Standardized Exams
September 19, 2013: Writing a Personal Statement
October 17, 2013: Preparing for the Residency Interview
November 14, 2013: Reschedued for January 2014
December 12, 2013: Giving and Receiving Feedback
January 16, 2014: Navigating Racism and Fairness Issues

Audio Recordings

An Taste of Mentoring in Second Life
Two Short Video Excerpts from Session 2
2-MINUTE VIDEO

April 11, 2013
"Navigating Racism and Fairness Issues in Medical School"
Judy C. Washington, MD, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ
Gabriela Diaz, MD, White Memorial Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA
AUDIO
Very quiet for first 30 seconds, then gets louder

May 16, 2013
"Exploring Well-Being and Life Balance"
Natasha Harrison, MD, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
Annie Kuo, DO, White Memorial Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA

June 13, 2013
"Being Mentored and Becoming a Mentor"
Kendalle Cobb, MD, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of CWRU, Cleveland, OH
Torian Easterling, MD, New Jersey Family Practice Center, Newark, NJ

July 18, 2013
"Enhancing Assertiveness Skills"
Montgomery Douglas, MD, New York Medical College
Katherine Fraser, Ph.D., Halifax Medical Center, Daytona Beach, FL
AUDIO

August 15, 2013
"Preparing for Standardized Exams"
Michael Bross, MD, Mukti Kulkarni, MD, and Joseph Adragna, MD,
University of Colorado, Denver, School of Medicine
AUDIO

September 19, 2013
"Writing A Personal Statement"
Tanya E. Anim, M.D., Florida Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program
Monique Davis-Smith, M.D., Residency Program Director, Medical Center of Central Georgia
AUDIO

October 17, 2013
"Preparing for the Residency Interview"
Alicia Vazquez, M.D., Cook County-Loyola-Provident Family Medicine Residency
Harry S. Strothers III, M.D., Department of Family Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine
AUDIO

November 14, 2013
Reschedued for January 16, 2014

December 11, 2013
"Giving and Receiving Feedback"
Allyson Brotherson, M.D., and Maria Veronica Svetaz, M.D.
Hennepin County Medical Center

January 14, 2014
"Navigating Racism and Fairness Issues"
Michele Vaca, M.D., New York Medical College
Jeffrey Ring, Ph.D., White Memorial Medical Center

For more information, send an email to
Pam Teplitz, Project Manager, or Dr. Jeffrey Ring, PhD, Project Coordinator,
or call (323) 260-5789