Dating to the 1980's, Duke was the first U.S. medical school to initiate an advisory dean program under the leadership of then Dean Doyle Graham, who felt that both the myriad opportunities and the stresses of medical school deserved individualized advising of each student. Now into our fourth generation of advisory deans, our team of five advisory deans, three staff members, and an academic resources consultant follow our students throughout their medical school careers. We are deeply invested in your development as a health care provider in all dimensions- your academic and professional success, of course, but also your personal and moral development and self-awareness as a provider of care to others, and your personal well-being as you become a professional.
We are pleased to offer our students individualized advising regarding academic progress and course selection, access to resources, residency preparation, application, and matching—and we are also here for conversations about troubling events, self-doubts, personal challenges. We meet with students individually and enjoy informal conversations with our students in dean's groups.
In addition to our formal advising program, our office and deans can help the following matters:
- mental health and wellness resources/referrals
- career advising events and resources
- residency matching/MSPE preparation/ERAS advice
- disability accommodations application and implementation
- room reservations at TSCHE
- badge access to buildings and student lounge at TSCHE
- letters of recommendation for programs and scholarships
- time away and leave of absence requests
- study away for 4th year electives
- grade appeals
Advising Information By Year
Advisory deans meet weekly with small groups (12 students) of their advisees in "lunch groups" for informal discussions of current events (local or global), ethical issues in medicine, career paths, and anything else of concern to the students that week. Lunch groups meet on either Tuesday or Thursday from 12pm-1pm. Students also have individual meetings with their dean during the year.
Students meet with the advisory dean and their dean's group for dinner once every clerkship block to discuss their clerkship experiences, to share advice with each other about rotations, and to discuss any concerns arising in the clerkship experiences. Students meet individually with their dean to discuss their developing career plans, their third year research plans and third year registration.
Students meet individually with their advisory dean multiple times this year to discuss the progress of their third year research project, their career exploration activities and residency decision-making, and their plans and registration for the fourth year of clinical electives.
Students meet individually multiple times during this year to discuss the content of the Medical Student Performance Evaluation, to review their credentials for residency application and their decision-making process for residency matching and course selection/registration, and to debrief their match plans and results.
Residency Resources