Having an older sister can help students figure out what choices to make in life.
The transition from an undergraduate program to medical school is not an easy task, but the American Medical Women’s Association hopes to make the transition smoother by providing first-year students with a mentor, referred to as a sister. The big-sister program helps female first-year medical students feel at home by pairing them with those who have been in the program for a while.
The chapter at the U’s medical school is trying to strengthen the sister program this year by staying in touch more with the paired-up students, said Kaerli Christensen, president of the U’s chapter of AMWA.
“(The program) creates bonds between girls of different classes that can provide help throughout all four years of medical school,” said Katherine Poruk, a second-year medical student.
Poruk and Giang Tran, also a second-year medical student, run the sister program. They said they are staying in contact with each pair to ensure the program is running smoothly. They are also developing activities for all the sister pairs to do together. The goal is to pair academics with fun.
The paired-up students first met at an AMWA social in September, and more socials are being planned to tighten the bonds. The women in charge of the program are working to make sure the students continue to contact and help each other.
There are 30 second-year students serving as big sisters to 30 first-year students. Some second-year students requested to have someone in particular as their little sister8212;the rest were matched together based on each one’s interests.
“Medical school is a journey, and it can be a daunting journey,” Tran said. “Having a big sis who has successfully been through the transition can remind the little sis that medical school is “doable.’ ”
The association was started in 1915 as a way to empower the female physician minority. It works now on an international level to address problems that female medical students face.