Carle Illinois College of Medicine is launching a new effort to match the best and the brightest minds among seasoned researchers and medical students for collaborative research that propels human health and medical education to the next level.
The initiative will be the first-ever Med Student Mentor Match, as part of the college’s annual medical education conference on January 25, 2024, led by Carle Illinois College of Medicine’s Office of Faculty Affairs and Development. The research match – designed to appeal to researchers from Carle Health and all disciplines across the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus – is formatted as a series of informal, introductory sessions for faculty researchers and medical students to interview each other about their work for possible research collaborations and mentorship.
“This presents a unique opportunity to break down barriers for both medical students and seasoned clinical and academic researchers who can benefit from each other’s talents as they engage in cross-cutting health care and medical education research,” said CI MED’s Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Development Deb Young. “We expect to see some exciting partnerships develop out of this event. With the clinical expertise found at Carle Health and UIUC’s renowned research faculty, leading experts will be able to connect with our brilliant physician-innovators to tackle important research questions, either on clinician/faculty-led projects or to serve as mentors on med student-led research projects.”
The Med Student Mentor Match is from 2:30 to 4 p.m. on Thursday, January 25, 2024, as part of CI MED’s 2nd Annual Medical Education Experience Conference (MEdX) to be held at the I Hotel and Conference Center. “Our conference theme this year is, ‘Breakthrough to Excellence: Innovation through Synergy.’ It’s only fitting that we should create connections with clinical and UIUC researchers from all fields who are conducting health care and medical education research,” Young said. Researchers who are interested in taking part are encouraged to register here.
As the world’s first engineering-based college of medicine, Carle Illinois College of Medicine at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign was founded on an interdisciplinary approach to educating a new generation of physician innovators.