By Sean Parrish
Staff Writer

Finding career advice can be a challenge, especially in the complex world of the health professions. Left to navigate the countless details on their own, many pre-health and health professional students wonder if there isn’t a better way. However, there is an answer to this frustration: the Student Doctor Network Mentor Forum.

Designed as a place where students can seek career guidance from experts in many healthcare-related fields, the Mentor Forum is a unique resource. It provides students access to credentialed administrators, faculty, experienced students, and practitioners.

Rather than leaving users to speculate on the value of the advice, SDN verifies the backgrounds of its mentors. At the same time, the Mentor Forum provides specialists in over a dozen different areas to give as broad a range of experience as possible. Through this combination of vetted volunteers and array of expertise, the SDN Mentor Forum sets itself apart.
 

Reviewing Volunteers is Key

The Mentor Forum is based on the idea of connecting students with knowledgeable volunteer specialists in assorted health professional fields. But rather than leaving users to question anonymous advice, SDN has created a process to screen volunteers before allowing them to join.

Mentor Coordinator Sarah M. Lawrence (All4MyDaughter) and Assistant Mentor Coordinator Roxanna Twedt (oxeye) recruit mentors from a variety of backgrounds to participate in the forum. However, they see that all contributors have their credentials verified so that users can expect a higher caliber of advice than what might be found posted elsewhere.

According to Lawrence, providing a certain expectation of transparency is important: “While there is a lot of fantastic information posted on SDN, the fact remains that we never know who is really providing that information, since anyone can be anonymous online. In the Mentor Forum, the advice you receive is coming from people whose credentials have been verified.”

Though it is always up to the individual student to decide whether specific advice is useful, the extra step of vetting mentors helps those seeking answers make better decisions.

Variety Ensures the Value for Everyone

Gathering a wide range of expertise in one place is no easy task. Yet, the Mentor Forum seeks to do just that. With over a dozen different specialties represented, running the gamut from Internal or Emergency Medicine all the way to Pharmacy or Dentistry, the forum gives users a place where they can seek professional career advice on just about any topic.

And those topics increase in number every day. From writing advice for the hopeful student preparing their first personal statement to a new physician learning how to evaluate practice opportunities, the growing list of topics makes the Mentor Forum an essential gathering place.

One promising new program is a series Mentor Forum Advisor imrep1972 has been spearheading called “31 Questions.” In it, he directs both mentors and verified users in providing answers to a set of strategic questions about their particular medical schools.

As content expands to other programs, this series has the capability of arming users with the kind of comprehensive insider’s look into the health profession that cannot be found anywhere else. This brand of uniquely SDN advice truly sets the Mentor Forum apart.

The goal of the Student Doctor Network has always been to provide an independent community where students, advisors, educators, and practicing healthcare professionals can share their thoughts and experiences with each other. With the advent of the Mentor Forum, SDN seeks to take that ideal a step further. It hopes to create a productive and non-judgmental environment where students can receive guidance and advice in the pursuit of a career.

By offering oversight into the backgrounds of those who give such advice while providing an ever-growing variety of topics and expertise, the Student Doctor Network Mentor Forum is a premier destination for those seeking to answer the difficult questions of any career in the health professions.