The Medical Student Alumni Ambassadors (MSAA) is a group of School of Medicine students working to connect alumni and students in meaningful ways and create networking opportunities. Student-Alumni Dinners, also coined by students as “Dinner with a Doc,” accomplish just that and provide students with a meal and the opportunity to look ahead to being an established doctor and alumni of the School of Medicine.

      The “Dinner with a Doc” project was piloted in the 2005 academic year. In its inaugural year, 12 dinners were hosted by alumni with approximately 40 students in attendance. In the 2006 academic year, the numbers increased to 24 student alumni dinners held, with 78 students attending the dinners. And the program has only grown since then. For the first time this year, alumni visiting Washington for Medical Reunion also participated in the program by hosting a dinner at a local restaurant.

      So far this 2009-2010 academic year, there have already been eight dinners hosted by alumni. The MSAA “Dinner with a Doc” Committee co-chair, Jen Ah-Kee (M’11), says “We are shooting for 30 [dinners], so we are well on our way.” Co-chair, June Chanyasulkit (C’05, M’11) adds, “The interest on both the alum and students sides has definitely increased and due to the enthusiasm of last year's responses, we ended up adding five more students on the organization committee to accommodate the growing interest!”

      Surveys have shown that every medical alum to host a group of students in their home has asked to do it again the following year and the students respond that this is a favorite program for them. In addition to meeting and connecting with an alum, and learning about his or her professional and personal life experiences, students also find “Dinner with a Doc” as a great networking opportunity for sharing information between students of different years (i.e. a first-year and third-year medical student exchanging knowledge). This allows for a stronger bridging between classes, and helps strengthen the overall School of Medicine community.

 
To become a host, please contact Jennifer Ah-Kee and June Chanyasulkit at dinewithadoc@gmail.com or the Medical and Dental Alumni program office, medalumni@georgetown.edu.

This is a great way to help future Georgetown School of Medicine alumni, and to get an update on the life of a medical student.