Clockwise: Justine Lazatin, COM ’20 giving her keynote speech at the C&O Transition Dinner; Stacey Pierce-Talsma, DO at the C&O Transition Dinner; COM Students celebrating at the C&O Transition Dinner; Blue Lobster pin
How did you get involved in this year’s C&O Transition Dinner?
I attended OMED 2019 as Convention Director for the Student Osteopathic Medical Association (SOMA). While at OMED, I was able to reconnect with Vincent Buonocore (Assistant Dean for UNE COM Recruitment, Student, and Alumni Services), and share my experiences as: a UNE COM Clubs & Organizations leader, a national leader in SOMA, and a current fourth-year osteopathic medical student applying and interviewing for residencies. A few weeks later, I was invited to be the keynote speaker for the inaugural C&O Transition Celebration to share what I've learned with first and second-year students.
What was your keynote speech about?
In my keynote, I talked about my experiences in clubs and organizations throughout my four years at UNE COM, and how these roles have helped me grow as a student leader and benefitted me as a residency candidate. I encouraged students to stay involved -- the more you invest in clubs and orgs, the more you'll get out of them!
First-year asks so much of us. We're constantly being evaluated with weekly quizzes, progress tests, and block exams. It can seem as if medicine will be about textbooks and lectures forever. It’s easy to forget that the world of medicine, which we fought so hard for the chance to enter, is so much bigger than what occurs in Alfond and Leonard Hall. SOMA reminded me of the bigger picture of medicine once again through connecting with fellow osteopathic medical students and DOs from around the country who think differently than I do and who have experienced medicine in a different way than I have.
While this kind of engagement in clubs and organizations broaden our experiences to make us better student-physicians, they also make us more competitive residency candidates. I shared an excerpt from the 2018 Osteopathic NRMP Report that states: “Matched U.S. osteopathic seniors in most specialties averaged more [extracurricular] experiences when compared to their unmatched counterparts.”
What did you hope to convey to those attending the event?
First, I hope I conveyed the power of the student voice, and that student leadership in clubs and organizations MATTERS. In 2018, 65% of actively practicing DOs were under the age of 45. In just 1-4 years, WE will join this 65% of actively practicing DOs under the age of 45. We are the next generation of osteopathic physicians, and this means that what we think and what we contribute as students now really and truly matters. We are actively shaping this profession, and our means of affecting change right now is through leadership in these clubs and organizations. Second, engagement in clubs and organizations provide meaningful medical school experiences that cannot be learned in a textbook, and are crucial to be a competitive residency candidate.