Creation of the Alumni Committee
by Matt De Niear (M4)
This past year, the MSTP Alumni Committee was created to engage former graduates of the program, maintain connections between former MSTP classmates, and provide networking opportunities for current and former students. Including the newly graduated Class of 2017, 267 students have earned MD-PhD degrees from the Vanderbilt University MSTP. As Vanderbilt’s program has produced a remarkable number of alumni in academic and leadership positions, we believe that engagement between alumni and current students will help promote the success of the program and its graduates. Our committee looks forward to developing new programs and initiatives in connection with alumni of the Vanderbilt MSTP.
One new initiative the Alumni Committee is embarking on will be the establishment of MSTP class representatives to facilitate sharing of news and information between current and former members of the program. Because MTSP students often graduate with a different class of MD and MSTP students than those with whom they began the program, we have chosen to identify MSTP classes by matriculation year rather than by graduation year. We hope that the class “reps” will be able to provide their own class, and MSTPs of all years, with news regarding their fellow classmates.
Additionally, the Alumni Committee will also be organizing Vanderbilt MSTP alumni socials at national conferences. We hope that these alumni socials will provide an opportunity to alumni to reconnect, socialize, and meet current MSTP students. Please keep an eye out for announcements regarding Vanderbilt MSTP socials in future editions of the newsletter.
Lastly, we’d like to congratulate the Class of 2017, the newest MSTP alumni!