The Professional Development Advising Team (PDAT) program began in 1996 and has assisted students with continuity in advising from the first year of medical school until graduation.  NEOUCOM currently has over one hundred PDAT Advisors who counsel medical and pharmacy students. 

GOAL

Becoming a health care professional involves integrating both the science and art of that profession with health care practice.  Students have many questions about the curriculum, about clinical practice, and about the current environment in which medicine and pharmacy are practiced.  The PDAT program offers students and faculty an opportunity to work closely together, learning to integrate the complexities of both basic sciences and clinical practice. The goal of the program is to support professional development of all students as they progress through the medicine and pharmacy curriculums.   

PARTICIPANTS

PDAT offers students the benefit of advising from 4 perspectives:

• The faculty perspective of a Rootstown-based faculty member
• The clinical perspective of a practicing physician or pharmacist
  
• The peer perspective of an upper level Peer Advisor
• The colleague perspective of fellow team members

PDAT consists of both Rootstown-based and clinical faculty to ensure continuity of advising during the basic science and clinical years of medical school.  Students interact with their advisors as a team and on an individual basis beginning the first year of medical and pharmacy school.  PDAT meetings focus on each advisee’s personal development, academic success, and professional identity.

THE BENEFITS TO STUDENTS IN PDAT

• Faculty to monitor and guide student academic and professional progress
• Assistance with the curriculum, the hospital experience and the practice setting
• Clear expectations for classes and clerkships
• Perspectives on medical specialties, residency and fellowship programs for medical students and career options for pharmacy students
  
• Medical Student Performance Evaluation written by faculty who know students throughout four years of medical school
• Resources for any kind of question relevant to the medical or pharmaceutical  profession

THE BENEFITS TO FACULTY IN PDAT

• Opportunity to encourage and impact individual students
• Opportunity to keep current with the overall curriculum
• Ongoing connection to basic tenets of the medical and pharmacy professions
• Education about student development and growing professional identity
• Teamwork with another faculty member

FOR QUESTIONS REGARDING PDAT CONTACT

Anita Pokorny, M.Ed.

Director, Career Development & Advising

330-325-6760

app@neoucom.edu