Meeting with the Dean (yay!)

[AKPreMed]

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I know this has been asked in the Allo thread, but I thought I'd ask what all you aspiring/current DO's would think. Tomorrow, I'm meeting with the Dean of the DO program at the school I want to go to. He is not "THE" Dean of the whole program, just the Dean of the Alaska rural rotation program this school has. I linked up with him through the AOA Mentor Exchange website. I'm so excited that I'm drawing a huge blank as to what sorts of questions to ask him. I don't want to overwhelm him, but at the same time I want to gain a lot of information from this meeting. I'm also hoping that this will be the first of many meetings over the next couple years prior to applying. I really want him to know that DO is, without a doubt, the route I want to go.

He also offered to let me meet with his medical students too, which is super neat!

Any suggestions as to what to ask? Anything I should tell him about myself? I'm sorry if I sound really ignorant, I'm just super nervous right now and I'd like to create a lasting dialogue with this doctor. Thanks in advance!

🙂

 

[help2]

Are you particularly interested in rural medicine? Maybe you can ask about his experience with that.

I think it's a good idea to ask questions about the things YOU are passionate about at the moment and also to find out what his interests are. It makes a good impression when someone can sense your enthusiasm about something. Overall, think about what you want to get out of this meeting? Start with the goal and then think about how you can achieve it.

Typically with meetings like this, they end up being very laid back and natural. You don't have to "prepare" too much, just have a bit of an idea of the things you're really interested in learning and what you want from the experience.

 

[CopToEM]

Don't go in with a bunch of questions in mind - seriously. This is a great experience and you should just be conversational. If you need a good ice breaker you might ask what makes him passionate about the kind of work he does. We know that most physicians could go just about anywhere in the United States and practice... why Alaska? Is he a native and if not what about the Alaskan area and/or people keeps him there?

It sounds like he's a pretty nice guy so I think going in with a prepared list of questions is just overkill. If he's going this far out of his way to help you then he'll share more than enough information with you, in conversation, than you could ever ask him to divulge!

👍