Alumni Association Staff Recognized for Host Program

Elizabeth Williams, director of P&S alumni relations, and Laura Gilbert, student/alumni program coordinator, found an innovative and cost-effective way for the P&S Alumni Association to reach out to alumni by bringing them together with medical students. The P&S Host Program offers fourth-year students housing with a graduate when they interview for residency positions around the country. The program received honorable mention this year in the Association for American Medical Colleges Group on Institutional Advancement Awards for Excellence competition, in the shoestring award category for public affairs/community relations programs. 

The P&S Host Program defrays costs for students as they travel for residency interviews and gives alumni an opportunity to share their experiences of practicing in a particular area of the country. “We discovered,” says Ms. Gilbert, “that we are able to stay connected to our young alumni because it gives them an opportunity to give back to P&S during a time in their careers when they may not be able to give monetary gifts.”

“In the past,” says Ms. Williams, “we focused our outreach to alumni on states with a high alumni population—roughly seven states. The P&S Host Program enabled us to expand our outreach to alumni across 33 states this past academic year. Not only are participating alumni loving it, but students are graduating with a sense of pride in their alumni network.” 

For information on participating in the P&S Host Program, contact the alumni office at psalumni@columbia.edu or 212-305-1472.