Office of Student Affairs: Engagement and Leadership Opportunities for Medical Students, Residents, and Fellows

INTRODUCTION: Exposing trainees to roles within medical school offices is an important, but often overlooked, component of academic medicine career development. This module described the roles and responsibilities of staff within the Office of Student Affairs (OSA) and opportunities for trainees to become engaged, lead, and develop student affairs-related competencies. METHODS: The 90-minute workshop was presented at three regional conferences at US medical schools between September and December 2019. Participants were medical students, residents, and fellows from multiple institutions. The workshop consisted of a didactic portion describing OSA responsibilities and guiding principles, reflection exercises to gauge learners' engagement with the OSA, and case discussions on how trainees have led scholarly student affairs-related projects. RESULTS: Among 28 participants, over 90%, agreed that each of the workshop objectives was met. Using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, there was a statistically significant increase (p < .001) in participants' confidence to “list skills to be an effective advisor in the OSA,” and, “Advocate for student issues through the OSA.” DISCUSSION: Trainees not only have the opportunity to access services through the OSA, but also serve and develop foundational competencies to eventually serve in an OSA leadership position. This workshop provided trainees early exposure to OSA administration to realize a career in academic medicine beyond the faculty role.