A first-of-a-kind event at OUWB brought together alumni and current students in a fun and engaging way.

The 2024 OUWB: Specialty Speed Dating Event was held Nov. 13 at Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital in Royal Oak.

Nearly 70 current students had the opportunity to meet 16 OUWB alumni and ask questions generally related to life in medicine.

It was a collaboration between OUWB’s Student Affairs and Development departments — and officials from both said they were happy with the results.

“One of our objectives was to build community,” said Jennifer Root, Ed.D, assistant dean, Student Affairs. “It’s nice to offer this opportunity so that our students can see where they’re heading and give them an even better sense of direction.”

Jordan Nash, development associate, said he hoped alumni took a lot away from the experience, too.

“Our alumni are super passionate about giving back and wanting to stay involved with OUWB and this is another way to satisfy that mentorship need for them,” he said.

“They really seemed to enjoy it.”

Held in one of OUWB’s classrooms, attendees first had networking opportunities while eating dinner provided by the school.

When it was time for the main event, groups of 10 students were given numbers that corresponded with tables in the atrium of the hospital administration building.

Like a “speed-dating” event, groups spent five minutes at each table and were able to ask the alumni anything. Questions ran the gamut, ranging from what the alumni would do again if they were in medical school to how they decided what they would specialize in to how to successfully find mentors in medicine.

Alumni said they were happy to be part of the event.

Kyle Eaton, M.D., OUWB ’18, was one of them.

“I moved out of the area right after I graduated for about five years then I came back two years ago to continue with training and had some nostalgia and wanted to reconnect with the school that trained me,” he said. “I thought this would be a good way to do that.”

Eaton said that as a medical student he would have liked to have had opportunities to meet with more specialists earlier in his training to “help me figure out what I wanted to do.”

“Hopefully, I can do that for the students here tonight,” he said.

Rachel Hunt, M.D., OUWB ’17, also participated.

“I loved medical school and I have always dreamed of being able to give back and get involved,” she said.

“I hope that students can see that their dreams can come true,” she added.

Students like M1 Nooraldin Kamaladin said the event was “fantastic” and were grateful of the time taken by alumni to attend.

“I loved the opportunity to be able to speak to alumni,” he said. “Getting to know the details about their surgical lives was incredibly fascinating, and all the alumni gave phenomenal advice.”

Kamaladin said his primary takeaways centered on life as a resident.

“I was especially pleased to hear that the surgical residencies at Corewell were not only highly regarded and excellent teaching facilities but also foster an incredibly supportive environment between the staff, where residents and attendings look out for each other,” he said.

Christopher Carpenter, M.D., Stephan Sharf Dean, was at the event where he engaged with students and filled in briefly at one of the tables. He called the mixer “a great thing.”

“It shows community and a willingness to give back, too,” he said. “It gives alumni an opportunity to provide a service and also regain that sentiment from when they were on the other side of the table.”

“And it’s great to see our current students smiling, excited, and ready to absorb and learn and figure out what path they want to go down in life with regards to their medical careers,” he added.

For more information, contact Andrew Dietderich, senior marketing specialist, OUWB, at [email protected].

To request an interview, visit the OUWB Communications & Marketing webpage.

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