Advising Resources
All students are assigned to a College and provided with an advisor that will follow them longitudinally throughout their time at Johns Hopkins Medicine. Colleges advisors will help students in academic, career, and personal advising.
Personal Advising
Medical school can be a joyful but also challenging time. Life events happen while students are in medical school and CAP advisors are here to help. The longitudinal relationship allows for a safe space to talk about any issues that might come up for an advisee. Personal advising includes physical and mental health checks and conversations on optimizing health and well-being; advising around financial wellness, extracurricular activities, and relationships.
Academic Advising
The CAP advisor will assist students in successfully navigating the medical school experience. Academic advising includes study skills strategies, time management, planning dedicated study time for USMLE Board exams; remediation guidance, scheduling and elective choice guidance, and guidance on selecting a research mentor.
Career Advising
The CAP advisor will begin the process of career advising even before the student arrives in Baltimore. Advisors will explore with advisees their motivations for coming to medical school and will aid them in self exploration using the framework and resources in AAMC Careers in Medicine for self-exploration and exploring career options. Career advising includes advising around experiences that aid in self-exploration, exploring career options as well and connecting students to specialty advisors and others in a potential field of interest.
Residency Advising
The CAP program in collaboration with the Office of Medical Student Affairs will offer both large group programs and individual advising around all aspects of the residency process including Electronic Residency Application Service preparation and submission; preparation of personal statement; best practices for asking for letters of recommendation; interview preparation and debrief; preparing a rank list; and navigation of the Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program.
Watch: Road to Residency: The Path Ahead
The Colleges Advisory Program collaborates closely with all of the following offices on various areas of student advising.
Office of Medical Student Affairs
Each College is paired with one of the four OMSA deans so that students and CAP faculty have a point person in the OMSA to get to know students well and provide consistent longitudinal team advising. Visit the office
Office of Medical Student Curriculum
The Colleges Advisory Program works closely with the Office of Medical Student Curriculum to purposely embed group advising sessions into the curriculum. Visit the office
Specialty Advisors
Each department has designated faculty who serve as point people for students interested in exploring and successfully matching in a given field. CAP, OMSA, and subspecialty advisors meet several times a year to ensure up-to-date information pertaining to specialty recruitment and success as well as consistent advising amongst all three groups.
Learning Specialist
CAP advisors will collaborate with the learning specialist in order to maximize academic success. Learn more
Peer Advising Programs
Peers provide invaluable guidance to medical student advising as they too are navigating or recently experienced the same issues as their peers. Each college has a peer advising structure which incorporates one on one and group advising programs.
Office of Medical Student Research and Scholarship
The Colleges Advisory Program works closely with the Office of Medical Student Research to help guide students to mentors for the Scholarly Concentrations Course. Visit the office
Office of Financial Aid
The Colleges Advisory Program works in partnership with the Office of Financial Aid in advising students around financial wellness. Visit the office
University Student Health/Mental Health
The Colleges Advisory Program refers students to University Health and University Mental Health for acute health concerns and wellness visits. Visit University Health
Student Assistance Program
The Colleges Advisory Program partners with the Student Assistance Program to help advisees manage acute stress, time management and other important life skills. Visit the program
Alumni Advising
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine has over 400 alumni representing a broad spectrum of specialties and practice patterns throughout the country and internationally. Many of these alumni participate in mock interviews coordinated by the Colleges Advisory Program. Many are also eager to speak with current students about their trajectory, specialty and other life experiences.