Residency & Professional Advising

Department of Residency and Professional Advising

Match-Ready, from Day One

Our Department of Residency and Professional Advising team lives and breathes the residency process, guiding you step-by-step. Expect personalized coaching, honest feedback, and a clear plan that turns your unique journey into a competitive edge.

Who we are

When UMHS launched, we put together a team of experts in professional development, teaching, and communication, with an expansive understanding of the particular concerns specific to those hoping to prosper by studying in the Caribbean.

The Department of Residency and Professional Advising is a team comprised of professional advisors with over fifty years of experience working specifically with Caribbean medical students at both large and small universities. The team is led by the Associate Dean of Academic and Student Affairs, Patrick McCormick, and his over quarter century of working specifically in Caribbean residency and match preparation.

Our professional staff are experts in writing, academic advising, and communication, with careers dedicated to supporting students via a combined 50 years of working with Caribbean medical students.

Our mission

The Department of Residency and Professional Advising is committed to developing students professionally by helping them identify qualities and accomplishments that can expand their appeal to eventual employers (medical residencies). At the same time, our main mission is to reduce students’ anxiety by helping them navigate the complicated landscape of applying to first-year residency programs with timely and detailed information, and advice from the most tenured professional development team in the Caribbean. 

Through personalized attention, the Department of Residency and Professional Advising helps students recognize how their unique journey can be one of their best assets when designing their futures, often in ways they have never considered. Helping students link interests to background, we aim to unearth aspects of their stories that often become the identifying factors leading to a successful match. 

Our philosophy

We believe specific and timely guidance, and clarity on aim-meeting-target are key to successfully navigating the complex landscape of applying to residency.   We also know that when supported by a dedicated team who can assist students in connecting their lives and academic success and achievements, students begin to view a process that at first seemed daunting, instead as a journey where they can truly feel proud of what they offer as individuals and professionals.

How we support students

While many medical schools offer limited or no support for students in terms of Match preparation and application guidance, UMHS does not believe in leaving students on their own when it comes to something as important as presenting who they are and what they have achieved to prospective employers. Instead, we invest where others don’t. 

Our department provides honest feedback, best practices, unique characteristics of the Caribbean journey, and can identify strengths and weaknesses in each student’s profile thought to be important and appealing at the next level, and given those attributes, how to move forward. Initiatives include constructing personalized and curated application materials, application and interview guidance, such as mock interviews, and information to guide each student on their unique road to success.

The Non-Traditional Route

While it is true that attending medical school at any university is not a guarantee of success in acquiring a residency, the tenured professionals at UMHS know those fears can be heightened when taking on a non-traditional route beginning in the Caribbean.

UMHS has understood these concerns for decades and has invested in resources designed specifically, not only to allay those fears and to be transparent when performance could threaten a desired outcome, but also to teach students how to leverage strong academic accomplishment, alongside their unique path and experiences, to their advantage in pursuit of residency. 

Through the resources and staff in the Department of Residency and Professional Advising, students learn and take pride in the fact that what makes them different and unique are often the same qualities that make them great physicians.