
On January 18, 2018, students, residents, and faculty gathered at the Pretzel Bell in downtown Ann Arbor for a night of mingling, mentoring, and a "different" type of speed dating. Funded by the Division of General Internal Medicine and the Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM), and organized by Allison Ruff, Clinical Assistant Professor in General Medicine, and John Ayanian, Director of the Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, alongside division leaders Laurence McMahon, Division Chief of General Medicine, and Robert Ernst, Senior Associate Chief for Ambulatory Care, an event was hosted in honor of #ProudtobeGIM week. This campaign is a much needed effort by SGIM to increase medical student and resident interest in careers in General Internal Medicine while encouraging faculty to flaunt their pride in this important career choice.


Fourteen GIM faulty gathered alongside students and residents to share their insights into why GIM was the right choice for their diverse career paths. Faculty represented a spectrum of careers including primary care, hospital medicine, medicine/pediatrics, education, administration, and health system research. Students rotated through tables in 8-minute intervals to get a taste of all of the opportunities that await after training in GIM.

Conversation abounded about the variety of opportunities and paths in GIM and each time "switch" was called, learners were reluctantly pulled away to start yet another in-depth conversation.

At the end of the night, learners were given a chance to reconnect with faculty they met while rotating while also making connections to open up future mentorship and advising relationships. Students were surprised not only by how many different careers were possible out of GIM, but also that some of the physicians they see leading the medical school and health system every day also practice in General Internal Medicine.

It is our hope that with early exposure and mentorship by Michigan Medicine's #Proudtobe GIM leaders, more students and residents will find their "match" in General Medicine.