Program Connects Medical Students and Residents with Established Endocrinologists
By Ellie Cliff, Specialist, Government & Public Affairs
A key goal of the Endocrine Society is to foster the next generation of endocrinologists.
We know that young medical professionals today have many options as they prepare to enter the workforce. We want these students and residents to understand that endocrinology offers an exciting and meaningful professional journey.
That’s the underlying goal in our Endocrinology Mentoring Day (eMD) program, which we launched last year at ENDO in Chicago, IL. We’re delighted to host this program again on Sunday June 2 at ENDO 2024 in Boston, MA.
The program connects rising medical students, residents, and trainees with established endocrinologists who serve as their “mentor” for a day at ENDO. The mentors introduce their charges to some of ENDO’s signature programs, including poster presentations, interesting case studies, and a plenary session.
For mentors, it’s also a chance to share their passion for the field:
“Endocrinology has a bright future, and we hope you are a part of it,” Dan Mihailescu, MD, a Chicago-based endocrinologist, told mentees at last year’s inaugural event, according to an August 2023 article in Endocrine News. “We’re sure that by the end of the day, the only career path for you will be endocrinology.”
The message hit home with Marah Alsayed Hasan, MD, an internal medicine resident at Lankenau Hospital in Wynnewood, Pa.
“It’s a very intellectually stimulating field, and I like that it always keeps me on edge,” she told Endocrine News. “I also like that fact that you have the opportunity to do a lot of preventative care and be able to follow patients over a long period of time and develop relationships [with them].”
Addressing the Endocrinology Shortfall
The eMD program is the brainchild of the Society’s Clinical Affairs Core Committee (CACC), which sought to address the projected shortfalls of new physicians entering the specialty. Recent reports on the physician pipeline have shown some worrying findings.
Endocrinology is one of 12 medical specialties that could see shortfalls of up to 13,400 doctors by 2034, according to a 2021 report by the Association of American Medical Colleges. This report echoed earlier findings that the U.S. could face a shortage of roughly 2,700 endocrinologists by 2025, according to a 2014 report in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
The Society is doing its part to change this picture by providing incentives for medical students to further explore the world of endocrinology. As part of the eMD program, mentees receive a complimentary day-pass for ENDO, complimentary breakfast and lunch, and a complimentary full-year membership at the Society.
Visit our Endocrinology Mentorship Day webpage for more information and to register for the program. If you have any questions or are interested in participating as a mentor at ENDO2024, please reach out to me at [email protected].