Many OUM students have spent years dreaming of becoming medical practitioners, even while navigating and building very successful pre-medical school careers. Helping them realize that dream is the goal for OUM’s faculty and the entire University community. To ensure success, OUM has established an unmatched Advisory Program of full-time Academic Advisors and Research Advisors to support its students through their pre-clinical curriculum and required research projects.

Academic Advisors

  • Serve as a student’s primary contact during pre-clinical study with regard to monitoring academic status and program progression.
  • Provide students with guidance regarding all aspects of academic life, from navigating policies and procedures to offering assistance or feedback with coursework and overcoming obstacles.
  • May also be on OUM’s teaching faculty, which makes them well-prepared to counsel students through their pre-clinical studies.
  • Are familiar with licensing requirements in their country of residence and, perhaps, additional countries where they may have lived, studied, or practiced before joining the OUM faculty.

Role & Credentials

  • For up to one hour each week, Academic Advisors help students master and feel confident about material from their coursework, providing feedback following quizzes/exams, and addressing any knowledge-based deficiencies.
  • The study of medicine is unique. Academic Advisors help students create study plans and build time-management skills that may not have been part of their undergraduate or graduate school studies.
  • All Academic Advisors hold a registered medical degree or Ph.D. in one of the basic sciences. In North America, a Doctor of Osteopathy (DO), as a medically registrable qualification, also is permitted.

Requesting an Academic Advisor

  • Academic Advisors are available upon request for students in good academic standing. While not compulsory, students are strongly encouraged to take advantage of this important support.
  • Many incoming students request their Academic Advisor upon enrollment, so that they are able to begin working together immediately after Orientation.
  • Students experiencing academic difficulty are required to obtain an Academic Advisor, and many have since thrived due to their Advisor’s counsel.
  • Students are responsible for scheduling and maintaining meetings with their Advisors and ensuring that any cancellation is provided in writing with as much advance notice as possible.

Research Advisors

Role

As part of the Research Program, Research Advisors are available to assist students in all aspects of their required research projects, such as:

  • Selecting a research topic and developing a research question.
  • Designing the study/project.
  • Guiding literature search.
  • Choosing the best methods for statistical analysis.
  • Reviewing the prospectus and the manuscript drafts prior to submission.

Meetings

  • As students become ready to begin their research project, they first meet with the Director of Research to be assigned a Research Advisor.
  • Meetings with Research Advisors are initiated by students, as needed, when they need assistance with their project.
  • Research Advisors may recommend that students attend Research Club to hear ideas and gain a better understanding of the research process.

Research Prospectus

  • Once a student’s research prospectus has been written, it is presented to the Research Club and approved by the Director of Research.
  • Students must have their prospectus approved before they are able to begin clinical rotations and are highly advised to get an early start on the process.

Research Project

  • Completing a research project, including writing a manuscript accepted for publication, is a graduation requirement.
  • Several resources are available to assist students in preparing for and completing their project including the Research Methodology Unit, Research Advisors, Research Club, Journal Club, Library, and the Research Committee.

*The University reserves the right to change its program offerings and policies without notice.