The full suite of SoMCC programs and services are available to all medical and life science students, postdoctoral researchers, residents, and alumni. Our courses and seminars cover a wide range of topics, providing information about the myriad viable career options available to MD and PhD professionals, as well as insights into specific technical fields and organizations where clinicians and scientists are leveraging their skills. We offer guidance, professional consultation, and tactical support regarding all aspects of professional development, from early-stage exploration and preparation to successful decision-making and life-long career management. Below is an overview of the offerings and services available.
Curricular Offerings
Career Transition Planning (INDE 228): this Spring quarter course offers career exploration tools and exercises to help clarify your priorities, and introduces you to alumni, faculty and industry speakers from a variety of fields to highlight a wide range of settings where your skills are useful and relevant.
Industry Insights: this monthly series provides an opportunity for trainees to meet leaders from a variety of sectors who will share first-hand perspective and insights into their company’s technologies and professional opportunities.
Future Faculty Seminar (INDE 231/CTL 231): this Fall quarter seminar series teaches the broad spectrum of duties and opportunities presented through faculty positions, beyond the research-related aspects normally covered in graduate/post doc training. Participants in this weekly seminar series will develop an awareness of the resources and skills that lead to faculty job success and obtain answers to pressing field-specific and related faculty job questions through intellectual discussions with representatives of various academic institutions and fellow course participants.
Summer Program on Bio-entrepreneurship: presented by experienced entrepreneurs and leading experts within the field, this three-part program provides direct visibility into the process by which life science technologies are converted into companies.
Professional Development and Skill Building in Medical and Life Sciences: This quarterly series provides an overview of functions performed by life scientists and clinicians within a variety of professional settings and an opportunity to develop skills and perspectives critical to success in the workplace.
- Management Consulting Programming: during Fall quarter, the SoMCC hosts global leaders in the management consulting field and facilitates a consulting case and practice group to help participants gain exposure to management consulting culture, application/interview requirements, and the skills required to excel in the profession.
- Management Fundamentals (INDE): Through the use of assessment and hands-on instruction by key leaders and managers in myriad industry sectors, this Winter quarter seminar provides an overview of the primary elements of workplace leadership, and of the many professional opportunities within business.
- Career Transition Planning (INDE 228): this Spring quarter course offers career exploration tools and exercises to help clarify your priorities, and introduces you to alumni, faculty and industry speakers from a variety of fields to highlight a wide range of settings where your skills are useful and relevant.
- Speaker Series: this series provides introductions to leading authors and experts in life science research, clinical, and adjacent/related fields.
Professional Advising and Consultation
- Professional Advising Services: speaking with an advisor in a confidential setting about your personal career concerns can help you clarify your priorities, define your goals, prepare your credentials (CV, resume, cover letter), help you organize your individualized career development and transition plan, and much more.
To schedule a consultation, please email us, somcareers@stanford.edu, or call us at 650-725-7687. Provide us with your name, email address, a contact phone number where we can reach you and weekday times you are available to meet. We will confirm your appointment within three business days.
- Career Interest and Personality Inventory – Administration and Interpretation: the SoMCC offers the Myers Briggs Type Indicator and Strong Interest Inventory to help trainees identify information about themselves which may be useful in making career decisions.
Networking and Employer Connections
- Biotechnology Industry Day: each Spring, the School of Medicine Career Center hosts this customized recruitment opportunity for organizations in the life science and medical fields. The event is aimed at strengthening relationships with a core group of organizations, formalizing channels for recruitment, raising awareness of research directions and trends, and stimulating the exchange of scientific ideas and directions.
- Career Discussion Dinner Series: these dinners with leaders in the various medical and life science sectors provide opportunities for small group discussions about topics ranging from the latest research in the leader’s field to advice stemming from their own career development.
- Company Site Visits and Information Sessions: we provide opportunities for you to speak with representatives from specific companies, agencies, and firms to learn first-hand about their organizational culture and the unique research and offerings being developed within them.
- Career Advisory Network: this network is a listing of former Stanford trainees who are willing and interested to share information with you regarding their career backgrounds and experiences.
- Stanford Medical ‘LinkedIn’ Groups: the Stanford School of Medicine Alumni, Faculty, & Staff group on LinkedIn is a place where SoM professionals from all backgrounds can maintain a profile, and where individuals can connect with one another directly or through introductions made via colleagues and/or associates shared in common.
Resources, References and Tools
- SoMCC Library: our library provides print resources filled with advice and exercises meant to help you explore your skills and interests, as well as overviews of the many professional areas of interest to SoM trainees and alumni. Our online organization and career field search databases can also help you further define options, analyze fit, and develop professional contacts.
- Consulting Case Study and Practice Groups: This member-facilitated group provides an opportunity for those interested in the consulting field to exchange relevant information about, and meet to practice for, consulting case interviews. Consulting-related programming occurs Fall quarter, but group membership is available all year. To register and join: http://groups.google.com/group/somcc-consulting-prep
- Bio Career Center Jobs Board: this site enables you to search on criteria most relevant to you, and the process for accepting positions (in academia, industry, and government) ensures that the openings are expressly appropriate for MDs and PhDs in the life sciences.
- SoMCC Calendar of Events: the SoMCC calendar features career-related programs and events taking place within the SoM, across Stanford, and throughout the Bay Area.
- SoMCareers Distribution List: If you are not already receiving announcements of upcoming activities from somcareers@stanford.edu we welcome you to join the email distribution list by sending a subscription to the aforementioned addresss.
