Academic Support is available for any student in any Pillar who would like to improve their academic skills. From Basic Sciences note-taking to STEP prep courses and tools, Academic Support wants to help all students find success as medical students and as practitioners.

Areas where students can access support: 

• Confidential academic counseling
• Study skills
• Time management
• Test-taking strategies
• STEP prep
• Supplemental Instruction (SI) sessions led by peer tutors/SI leaders
• 1:1 or small group tutoring sessions with a peer tutor/SI leader
• Other academic needs as presented

Contact the Medical Student Affairs office to be connected with your designated pillar contacts if you have questions or to schedule an appointment. 

Career Advising through medical school happens in stages that follow the unique pillar structure that USD SSOM offers. The aim of the SSOM Career Advising Program is the development and progression of each medical student, with emphasis on academic and personal strengths, culminating in successful commencement in a medical residency.

 

Pillar 1

During Pillar 1, the first meeting with the career advisor is set up and students learn how career advising can help students learn about themselves and ultimately choose a specialty while at USD SSOM. Department Chairs give presentations to Pillar 1 students about their specialties, residency, and fellowship opportunities, and what a career in the specialty entails.  In addition, half-day clinical experiences are available to students who are seeking more exposure to various specialties. Pillar 1 students also compose an initial draft of their curriculum vitae.

Pillar 2

Career Development prep classes are offered throughout Pillar 2 to prepare our students for how best to learn about their strengths and skills and prepare for the road to residency application. In Pillar 2, students identify career advisors who will help students learn about the specialty and potential residency programs which would be a good fit for the student. SSOM students also participate in a Career Fair to learn more about USDs residency programs. 

Pillar 3

Pillar 3 is when students begin to prepare the personal statement for residency application, and they meet with Student Affairs Deans to review the Medical Student Performance Evaluation (MSPE) and receive advice on their plan for residency application. Many SSOM students participate in away rotations at visiting medical schools during Pillar 3 to gain additional experience in their specialty of choice. A newly matched student panel and a program director panel are organized to provide additional information for students as they prepare for residency. In addition, our students are required to participate in a mock interview with faculty to help prepare them for residency interviews.

Career Peer Mentors

In addition to career advisors, career peer mentors are senior medical students who serve as mentors to students. Career peer mentors guide under-class medical students and help them learn about specialties and the requirements for preparing for a future in that field. The career peer mentors may also help under-class medical students to network and establish relationships with faculty. As students, the career peer mentors help give perspective and support.

Alumni

USD SSOM has a robust and deep history within the state of South Dakota. Our alumni are proud of the medical school and are happy to meet with students to talk about opportunities or offer extra guidance. If you would like to connect with alumni as a current SSOM student, please reach out to Dr. Reuter for more information.

Currents Students

• Residency Forms - Application to request South Dakota residency status for admissions and tuition and fees purposes. 
  
• Change of Name Form - A student may change his/her name upon presentation of a certified copy of a marriage license, court order, or dissolution decree. Fill out the change of name form and submit is to the Medical Student Registrar’s office.  
  
• Address Update - Please contact the Medical Student Affairs registrar’s office to update your address to ensure all official documents get sent to the proper address Pillar 3 schedular - sign in required.

Alumni

For our USD SSOM Alumni who have graduated just recently or at any point in USD SSOM history. Information that that maybe need for boards review or getting a new state medical licensure. 

• Registrar Forms
• Degree Verification - Shows proof of degree for residency or career purposes
• Transcript Requests - Request your official transcript be mailed or picked up from the Office of the Registrar (fees apply)

Visiting Students

USD SSOM welcomes visiting students interested in completing part of their training at our facilities. 

You must be a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident and in your fourth year of a four-year program at a Liaison Committee of Medical Education-accredited institution or an American Osteopathic Association-accredited institution. You may apply for no more than eight total weeks of senior year electives, after passing USMLE Step One and completing the core clerkship, as required of third-year students. These core clerkships are: Obstetrics and gynecology, Pediatrics, Internal medicine, Family medicine, Surgery, Neurology and Psychiatry. 

We do not give credit to visiting students. Your medical school must provide the final grade and evaluation form and give it to the evaluating department before be-ginning the rotation. We will return evaluations to your medical school upon completion of the elective.

Learn More

Class Handbooks, Bulletin and other Resources:

View Class Handbooks, Bulletin and other Resources

Student Progress and Conduct Committee (SPCC) Duties:

1. Approve the list of students who are eligible for graduation, subject to completion of all requirements
2. Investigate and consider cases of students who are deemed to be deficient in any academic area including, but not limited to grades, professionalism, ethics or other aspects of performance and, when necessary, direct and enforce stipulations for remediation to the student. When suspension or dismissal is recommended by the SPCC, the SPCC will forward the recommendation to the Vice President/Dean of the Sanford School of Medicine
3. Investigate and consider cases of students who are accused of misconduct for unprofessional behavior when referred directly to the SPCC by a faculty member.
4. Review any report from the Professional Conduct Board that pertains to a student accused by another student of unethical or unprofessional behavior.

SPCC Committee

1. Membership (12)
   1. Faculty (12): 12 members of the faculty that must include representatives from each pillar of the curriculum.
      • Faculty members who have an immediate family member currently enrolled in the School of Medicine are ineligible to serve on the Student Progress and Conduct Committee
      • Three faculty members are elected by the faculty. One from basic sciences and two from clinical sciences.
      • A committee interest survey is distributed to all faculty. Faculty responses are collated and the list of faculty who express interest is shared with Faculty Council for review. Faculty Council makes recommendations to the Dean. and the Dean makes the final appointments for the other nine members.  
   2. It is the intention of the SPCC to maintain the integrity of its charge through the use of a fair and impartial process in all its deliberations. To that end, faculty members who have knowledge or have formed an opinion of a medical student's abilities, or suitability to become a physician through assign-ing a final summative grade will not be eligible for membership on the SPCC. SPCC members who engage in educational activities such as lecturing, clinical teaching, group facilitation or question writing and do not provide summative evaluations for students may serve on the committee. 
   3. Advisory -Dean of Medical Student Affairs.

Please see student handbook for complete SPCC bylaws 

Sanford School of Medicine Wellness – Well students, Well doctors, Well patients 

Personal Wellness

As a medical student, you have resources in place to help you overcome whatever you are going through. From Crisis lines to just someone to talk to, please reach out if you need help, all these services are confidential. These services are available for little to no cost to you as a student. 

• Suicide and Crisis Lifeline – 988  
• 24/7 Stress Release & Counseling Referral (Medical Students only) – 605-777-9482
• Counseling Center - Rebecca Glover (Medical Students only) – 605-658-3580

Professional Wellness

Medical Students deal with many concerns while pursuing their education. Things like academic concerns, anxiety, and career questions are common issues. The coordinator of the Student Professional Support Services provides personal counseling and referrals when needed to a learning specialist, mental health counselors, etc. to help students work through these types of concerns. 

Wellness Committee

The Sanford School of Medicine Medical Student Wellness program is based on a holistic model made up of programs that focus on the intellectual, environmental, emotional/spiritual, interpersonal, and physical well-being of the student throughout his/her medical education. A critical piece of the Sanford School of Medicine Wellness Program is the student-directed portion of the program. Wellness officers are elected for each class. These students oversee their budget and how they want to use it to promote wellness for each of their respective classes. Wellness officers must be much more than “event planners.” They need to be able to sell the importance of taking time to attend these events to their classmates. Events/programs are intended to enable the students to incorporate these ideas to truly improve their well-being. Examples of activities students have planned in the past include: yoga and other fitness classes; self-defense class; study-a-thons with snacks and massages; end of Year 1 pic-nic; movie night; and trivia Night. 

Healer’s Art Course

The Healer’s Art is the creation of Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen who first introduced it to the University of California School of Medicine at San Francisco in 1992. Since then, the popularity of the course has grown so much that it is now taught in 90+ US medical schools as well as medical schools around the world. Since 2005 the first-year medical students at the USD Sanford School of Medicine have been offered this unique elective. The course is held during the Fall Semester of the first year of medical school. This course has 5 sessions and allows students to revisit why they chose medicine as a career. The 5 session topics are: Discovering and Nurturing Your Whole-ness; Honoring Loss; Sharing Grief: The Healing of Loss; Beyond Analysis: Allowing Awe In Medicine; and The Care of the Soul: Service as a Way of Life. The sessions include both large-group and small-group settings.