Medical Degree Program Admissions Application Criteria & Process Admission Requirements How to Apply FAQs Transfer Policy & Procedures Contact Us Curriculum Electives Information for Incoming Students Student Support Career Advising Career advising and support is of the utmost importance to UCI School of Medicine. As students transition into medical school, they are assigned a career advisor that will provide support as they maneuver through the various major milestones within medical education. Home Education Medical Education Medical Degree Program MD Programs Career Advising Expert Guidance Our medical school has an effective career advising system in place that integrates the efforts of faculty members, clerkship directors, and student affairs staff to assist medical students in choosing elective courses, evaluating career options, and applying to residency programs. Careers in Medicine Careers in Medicine is a program developed by the Association of American Medical Colleges provides a package of online and live interactive resources to assist medical students define their career pathway. It includes elements that help students identify areas of personal interest and strength and pair those interests to characteristics of various medical and surgical specialties. Suggestions are provided for exploration of clinical specialties, and guidelines that assist with residency application, personal statement preparation, and interview preparation are reviewed. Career Advisor Assignment and Individual Career Advising Meetings Every student is assigned a career advisor upon matriculation into medical school. All students have individual meetings with their assigned career advisor throughout medical school as they approach various milestones. These meetings are intended to assist students as they maneuver through the MD curriculum and provide opportunities for students to share their goals, expectations, as well as challenges and concern throughout medical school. Specialty Talks Throughout the academic year, lunchtime medical specialty presentations are provided by a faculty member within various specialties. Faculty discuss factors that initially attracted them to their area of expertise, the positive and negative aspects of the specialty and review the application process for this residency. Students have ample opportunity to ask questions and interact with the presenter. Annual Student Wellness Retreat The primary objective of the retreat workshops and activities is to promote student and overall wellness, peer-network expansion and faculty-student mentorship. Also included during the retreat are workshops focused on career and academic advising topics. Student Interest Groups Students work with clinical departments to conduct interest group meetings. They provide students with information about their specialty and to further the interaction between students and faculty. Transition to Residency - Information Workshops Multiple important workshops are held throughout the four years to assist and support students through the process of preparing for the clinical years, planning a fourth year schedule, applying to away rotations, writing CV’s and personal statements, obtaining letters of recommendation, ERAS, the San Francisco Match (Ophthalmology) and early matches in military programs and Urology, residency application, preparing for interviews and formulating rank lists. Students will be provided with pertinent slides, handouts, and all workshops will be taped. In addition to these informational workshops, students are supported in this process by their individual Career Advisors. All fourth year course schedules must be approved by the Career Advisor prior to submission to the scheduling coordinator. Medical Student Performance Evaluation (Dean's Letter) Preparation During spring quarter of the third year, students are provided a workshop that details the content and format of their Medical Student Performance Evaluation (Dean’s Letter) and provides guidance to soliciting letters of recommendation. Each student’s personal Career Advisor will assist with writing the Noteworthy Characteristics section of the MSPE. All fourth-year students will then meet individually with Career Advisors during the summer quarter. During this meeting, the student will review the MSPE and make final edits. This meeting also provides additional time to discuss residency application strategy. Our Team Megan Boysen Osborn, MD, MHPE Senior Associate Dean, Students Co-Director, Multimedia Design and Educational Technologies Fellowship Associate Professor, Emergency Medicine Megan Boysen Osborn is an emergency physician and senior associate dean for students. She went to medical school and completed her emergency medicine residency at UC Irvine (zot, zot!). She went to Stanford University for an academic fellowship and the University of Illinois, Chicago for a Master’s in Health Professions Education. Dr. Osborn is a former EM residency director and has previously served as the chair of the Promotions and Honors committee. In her free time, she likes to spend time with her family; play volleyball, golf, and tennis; and see live music. Nancy Guirguis, EdD, MSW Assistant Dean, Student Affairs Director, Student Support Nancy Guirguis serves as an assistant dean of student affairs and the director of student support at the UCI School of Medicine. She completed her BA in psych and social behavior here at UCI (zot, zot!) and went on to complete her master’s degree in social work and doctorate in education at the University of Southern California. Guirguis worked at USC after completing her graduate studies, but she is SO happy to be back at UCI working with the amazing students here at the School of Medicine. Her primary focus (and favorite thing) in Med Ed is having the opportunity to interact and know the student body well through wellness programming, career advising and student engagement activities! Outside of work, she loves staying active and spending time with family, friends and pups. She is looking forward to working with you all throughout this very exciting, and undoubtedly memorable, journey! Daniel Kang, MD, FAAP Assistant Dean, Graduate Medical Education Associate Professor, Pediatrics Daniel Kang is the assistant dean for graduate medical education and a double board-certified pediatric hospitalist. He completed residency training and his chief residency at UCI (zot, zot!), and was a former program director for the UCI/CHOC Pediatric Residency. Before medical school, he was a middle school science teacher, and continues to pursue his passion for teaching through a master's of education degree in the health professions at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Kang is a pseudo-foodie and loves exploring new eateries, while juggling life with two toddlers. If he's not in the hospital, he's most likely at Disneyland with the family! Kari Kansal, MD, FACS Chief of Breast Surgery, Surgery Kari Kansal is a breast surgical oncologist at UCI Medical Center. She graduated from University of Minnesota, Minneapolis School of Medicine and then went to the University of California, San Diego for her general surgery residency. During her residency, she did a two-year research fellowship in minimally invasive surgery. Dr. Kansal then went onto a breast surgical oncology fellowship between Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA. After she completed that fellowship, she joined the faculty at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. In 2018, Dr. Kansal was recruited to UCI as chief of breast surgery. Her interests include humanism in medicine, mentoring students and residents, teaching and working in a multidisciplinary fashion. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her husband and kids, skiing, wine tasting and traveling. Daniel J. Munley, MD Assistant Professor, Medicine Dr. Daniel J. Munley is a board-certified UCI Health internist who specializes in primary care for adults. His clinical interests include education within internal medicine, novel treatments for diabetes and obesity medicine. He earned his medical degree from Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska and then completed a residency in internal medicine at Banner-University Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona, where he served as chief resident. He also holds a master's degree in medical physiology from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. As a medical student, Dr. Munley traveled to India, where he provided healthcare for the children of migrant workers in Pune and worked at a clinic for tuberculosis and leprosy patients in West Bengal. Closer to home, he provided primary care and sexual health services at a homeless shelter in north Omaha. He is originally from Washington, DC. Dr. Munley sees patients in Orange. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking in national parks and playing acoustic guitar. Kyle Paredes, MD, MBA Assistant Dean, Student Affairs Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology & Perioperative Care Kyle Paredes is the assistant dean for student affairs, the director of the MD/MBA program and an anesthesiologist. He graduated from Brigham Young University before going to UCSF for medical school. Dr. Paredes did his residency training and MBA degree here at UCI (Zot, Zot!) and has stayed on as faculty since 2015. As a first-generation and underrepresented medicine physician, he is passionate about advising and mentoring students. Outside of medicine, he loves to cook, bake, listen to music, play with his kids and travel. Valery Vilchez Parra, MD Assistant Professor, Surgery Valery C. Vilchez Parra is a UCI Health surgeon specializing in laparoscopic and robot-assisted surgical techniques to treat diseases of the colon and rectum. She earned her medical degree from the University of Zulia Faculty of Medicine in Maracaibo, Venezuela. She completed her residency in general surgery at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, followed by fellowship training in colon and rectal surgery at UCI School of Medicine. Dr. Vilchez’s clinical and research interests include a multidisciplinary approach to the treatments of recurrent and advanced colon and rectal cancers, complex redo inflammatory bowel disease conditions, pelvic floor disorders and anorectal disease. She is the author and co-author of more than a dozen peer-reviewed research papers in prominent medical journals. Also fluent in Spanish, she advocates for diversity and inclusion in medicine, global health and equity in healthcare. More recently, she served as a co-director of the Summer Healthcare Program (SHE program) within UCI and is a proud career advisor for the School of Medicine.