Cal Athletes in Medicine is a group dedicated to providing a flexible and accessible environment that allows Cal student-athletes to excel in healthcare. We understand that balancing college athletics while pursuing a career in healthcare can be challenging and our hope is to equip student-athletes with the skills and knowledge they need to become succeed in their goals and become leaders in the community.
AIM Bulletin
We will continue updating this board with new opportunities & events that you may be interested in, including volunteer and research opportunities, AIM events, and more!
Sign up to volunteer for the Berkeley Marathon on 11/19! Click the link above to read more.
Genentech Mentorship Program
Interested in biotechnology? Andrew Madsen, head of the Genentech Mentorship Program, hosts office hours at Strada every Friday from 12-2pm!
AIM Meeting 11/16
Join us for our Surgery & Suturing Event this Thurs, Nov 16th from 6-7 PM in the Haas Club Room!
FAQ
What should I be doing now to prepare for graduate/medical school?
Applying to graduate programs is a difficult process to navigate, so it’s good to start planning early. This means exposing yourself to a variety of experiences including but not exclusive to research, hands-on experience in your field of interest, and leadership opportunities. Another essential and inevitable aspect to your application will be academic performance.
We understand that balancing all of these things along with competing in your sport is extremely difficult, which is why we started this site as a resource. We will be posting weekly on our blogs about volunteer and career opportunities, as well as adding academic resources (links to tutoring services, class study guides, etc) and alumni support.
Lastly, don’t be afraid to reach out to any of us on the AIM executive board! Though we may be pursuing different careers within medicine and healthcare, we know what it’s like to juggle all these responsibilities and hope to make your journey easier. We will be offering one on one peer advising (which you can sign up on the resources page), or feel free to email or connect with any of us on social media!
How can I get involved in research?
Cal has the best research labs and faculty a university can offer! No matter what field of study you are interested in, there are a plethora of groups you can join and positions you can apply to. Programs like URAP and Berkeley Connect offer you the opportunity to gain first-hand experience in labs with some of the world’s best professors and researchers. You can also seek similar opportunities by cold-emailing labs on campus, or faculty working on projects you are interested in.
This may be challenging at first — though there are a lot of labs, it is a very competitive process for students. We are currently compiling resources including cold-emailing templates, links to lab openings, and more! These can be found in Google Drive under the Research and Email Templates folder. We will be continuously updating these files and will also release a blog post with some of our experiences.
What are some ways I can gain experience in a medical setting?
Shadowing professionals, volunteering, and jobs related to healthcare are all great ways to gain firsthand experience in a medical setting! We will be posting separate informative blogs on how to gain shadowing experience, volunteering, and applying to positions as a medical assistant or undergoing EMT training.
We will also update our Google Drive accordingly with resources including email templates and job opportunities. We are also super excited to launch our extensive Alumni List, which will include a countless number of professionals from a variety of fields (this will also be in our Google Drive).
What are some of the best ways to get involved with volunteer work?
Depending on the career you are interested in, volunteering may also be an essential part of your college experience! As mentioned above, look out for our blog posts highlighting different volunteer opportunities around the Bay Area.
Additionally, the Cal Cameron Institute also offers volunteer opportunities in the Berkeley/Oakland area, so look out for those as well.
How do I figure out what specifically in the medical field interests me?
The best way to find what career fits you best is to continuously seek out opportunities to observe and learn about the professionals in those fields. We are here to help you do that by connecting you to those professionals! Along with the aforementioned blog about shadowing, we will be hosting a Career Networking Night event which is a great way to make connections.
What are some alternate careers aside from the traditional MD/BSN route?
There are many great but lesser known options for careers in medicine, such as becoming an athletic trainer, physician assistant, physical therapist, psychiatrist, etc. Along with our Career Networking Night event, we will be hosting an Alternative Careers in Healthcare Medicine event, where you will have the opportunity to listen to a panel of non MD/BSN professionals talk about their experiences in healthcare. Keep an eye out for this on our bulletin board!
What are the benefits of having a mentor and how can I get one?
Having a mentor to guide you along your pre-health journey can be of enormous benefit — not only can they provide you with professional advice in the career that you want to pursue, they can also connect you with opportunities that are hard to come by otherwise and help you plan your future goals and achieve them. We mainly offer mentorship from two resources, our Alumni List and the Cal Cameron Institute Mentorship program! Our Alumni List can be found in our Google Drive and you can join the Cal Cameron Institute Mentorship program by filling out the form at the bottom of the Resources page.