University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry Partners with Archer Career to Offer Students a Structured Path to Private and Public Sector Careers

Rochester, NY (February 3, 2023) – Biomedical sciences PhD and Masters students are increasingly looking beyond traditional academic roles and exploring a wider range of career options including in the government, industry, and not-for-profit sectors.  Success in these newer career paths requires some novel thinking and careful early planning.

At the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry (URSMD), Director of myHub Career Services Eric Vaughn sought to cultivate these newer careers for his clientele by encouraging them to shadow professionals working in industry, not-for-profit, or government roles.  He knew URSMD alumni would be willing and able to help and started laying out a career exploration roadmap.  But as an office of one with 600 students to serve, he knew he needed help to scale.

A timely introduction to Archer Career at the national conference of the Graduate Career Consortium and a generous grant from the Burroughs Welcome Fund provided a path to actualize Vaughn’s vision.

“I wanted to create a roadmap for trainees to navigate from thinking about job shadowing and career exploration all the way through to shadowing proposals and actual experiences,” recalled Vaughn.  “Archer Career’s checklist approach and career coaching expertise has transformed a daunting task into something tangible.  Their platform can help individuals take incremental steps and be able to visualize that. They can actually see the progress.  They complete the program in 7-10 weeks and feel more accomplished and ready.”

Launched in 2020, Archer Career is on a mission to improve career outcomes, reducing early-career underemployment. Their software platform and mobile app offers structure, momentum, and accountability – applying behavioral science and a step-by-step micro-learning paths to educate and empower individuals to achieve career goals confidently. 

Archer’s platform is grounded in the science of behavioral change, breaking down complex career exploration processes into weekly activities and small steps that can be completed 10-minutes at a time.  While Archer offers a library of content built through successfully coaching over 20,000 early career professionals, the platform is also flexible enough to enable specific career offices to customize content for their students.

Powered by Archer Career, URSMD myHub will be launching a program in February that will ready participants for job shadowing opportunities in biomedical and health sciences in 7-10 weeks.  Participants in this program will use Archer Checklist to guide them through incremental steps and visualize their progress.  Weekly check-ins with Career Services will ensure smooth implementation and provide feedback.  Vaughn is also eager to use individual modules a la carte to support specific tasks like resume writing, informational interviews, and developing your professional network, so they can get a jump start individually and then work on editing and follow-up in individual coaching sessions.

“URSMD students are scientists and researchers.  Archer Career empowers URSMD myHub Career Services to deliver their students an evidence-based, structured approach to securing private and public sector job-shadowing opportunities,” explained Archer Career CEO and Co-Founder Dr. Pam Schilling. “We are delighted to be partnering with Eric and the URSMD myHub team to provide a structured and scalable approach that has delivered results for thousands of early career job seekers, customized to the unique needs of URSMD.”    

Eligible URSMD students can learn more about the program and enroll at https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/education/graduate/myhub-professional-development.aspx.

About the University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry:

For nearly a century, the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry has been recognized as a leader in medical education and research. Rochester is among the nation’s most selective medical schools, offering undergraduate and graduate medical education, as well as master's and PhD degrees, postdoctoral positions, and certificate programs. As part of a top-tier research university, alumni go on to become the fundamental, translational, and clinical innovators of the future, maintaining the critical link between scientific discovery and advances in health care.