Asking friends who recently left for med school adds credibility MS1&2s are still connected to their younger undergraduate friends Willing to set aside small amts of time to answer questions Can refer questions to other MS1&2s while still retaining credibility People’s Perspectives
has so many questions about the whole application process! Story Board 5. Tina feels confident in Kevin’s answers and is able to proceed with her application. 3. She sends a question to Kevin, her close friend and a current MS1 at UW SOM. 2. Too stressed out by the flurry of faceless questions and responses, she turns to MedAdvise 4. Kevin, fresh from having just applied the previous year, gladly posts an answer 6. Tina tells other friends about MedAdvise and the undergrad &MS network of friends grows.
one or all friends in network All friends to generate different POVs, one friend for question specific to that SOM Follow-up question abilities Refer question to “a friend of a friend” in the SOM – still retains degree of credibility Public/private settings to allow other applicant friends to view answers to questions you’ve posted Features & Functionalities
can’t put a face to the question/answer People feel more comfortable asking friends questions that they don’t want to “put out there” on a public online forum MS1&2s feel more obliged to set aside time to help their friends rather than help random people posting questions on SDN Theoretical Justifications
due to overwhelming amt of work Don’t want to answer the same question twice Conversely, not all answers applicable to different people Undergraduate feedback: Quicker responses User Research Early Results
school Broadness of answer spectrum relies on how many friends you have in medical school How much time are MS1&2s willing to put into answering questions as network begins to grow to >10 people per med student Shortcomings
tips Medical news Med school specific Opinions on healthcare debate Med-school-events-nearby page “Friends you may know” recommendations Expansion