The Office of Student Affairs (OSA)

Location: S1-131, First Floor, Student Wing
Telephone:  508-856-2285
Fax: 508-856-5536
Email: studentaffairs@umassmed.edu
URL: http://www.umassmed.edu/studentaffairs

The primary goal of the Office of Student Affairs (OSA) is to provide advocacy for and support to medical students in pursuing their major role, which is to learn both the science and the art of medicine.  Medicine is  a fascinating and complex profession. It is a privilege to be selected to train for and to enter this field. Our goal is to help medical students to develop into empathic, compassionate, knowledgeable physicians who have a life-long enthusiasm for their profession and who reflect the goals and ideals set forth in the Mission Statement for the school.

The Office of Student Affairs strives to be a supportive and responsive place where students can find help in coping with the academic and personal demands of medical school. The Associate Dean for Student Affairs shares these roles with the Assistant Dean for Advising and responsive faculty members and the Learning Community mentors. The office also works closely with the Diversity and Inclusion Office (DIO). The Student Counseling Service is also available for support.

The Office of Student Affairs (OSA) strives to promote a supportive and responsive environment where students find help coping with the academic, personal and social demands of graduate education. OSA nurtures a diverse culture inclusive to the sensitive needs of our students, staff, faculty and visitors. Student Affairs encourages personal growth and success by embracing a holistic definition of diversity and meeting individual needs of our constituents.

The Office of Student Affairs also provides support for a variety of student activities, such as assignment of core clinical activities and fourth year studies, administration of the NRMP (National Residency Matching Program), Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS), VSAS (Visiting Student Application Service), Medical Student Performance Evaluations (MSPE), orientations to inform and prepare students for all four years of medical education, commencement, and graduation activities. Student Affairs also coordinates the Basic Science and Clinical Science Academic Evaluation Boards, Progress Board, administrative support for all student-run group and organizations as well as the Student Body Committee (student governance group). In these roles, the Office acts as an advisor both to students and faculty to help facilitate and carry out timely and informed decisions.

Under the leadership of the Office of Educational Affairs (OEA), the Office jointly sponsors the Learning Communities program, together with the Office of Undergraduate Medical Education. This association with the overall educational effort of the School encourages the interdigitation of support, curriculum, and educational issues in medical student education. One goal of the Office is to decrease any sense of impersonal learning and isolation, particularly in the pre-clerkship years, and to provide a positive learning environment throughout individual, programmatic, and curricular levels in all years. The goals and objectives of medical education for the school include attributes of knowledge, problem-solving, attitudes, interpersonal skills and self-reflection which the Office of Student Affairs endorses and hopes to foster.