As we saw First Gen Doctors grow with applicants, medical students and doctors, Parmis decided this community deserved more, and so, a team was formed (using the same members of the groupchat!) to be able to meet the needs of this community and keep growing!
Similar to our WhatsApp community, our Discord server offers dedicated spaces for applicants, medical students, and doctors, along with a central hub for sharing opportunities and resources, because we believe in full transparency - no gatekeeping.
With over 800 members, it's incredible to see how many have embraced the transition, with more than 30% joining Discord solely for FirstGenDoctors. This growth reflects the strength and impact of our community.
To ensure our applicant members received the support they needed, we hosted various events, including free one-on-one drop-in sessions and mock interviews - because access to guidance should never come with a price tag.
Hearing from attendees who successfully got into medical school and some who later joined our team has been a full-circle moment.
There will always be questions seeking advice about the often unspoken aspects of Medicine, and we are proud that our community fosters these valuable conversations and shares insightful knowledge.
Our goal is to transform these discussions into actionable steps and share our personal experiences with our members. We are committed to highlighting important topics that may not frequently come up but are crucial for success.
Our weekly newsletter, which has grown to over 600 subscribers, provides a comprehensive summary of opportunities and events shared by our community, as well as updates on FirstGenDoctors' own initiatives.
We also feature a special section, Docs Digest: First Gen Edition, where volunteers can submit their contributions on a variety of topics. We encourage everyone to share their voice and join the conversation!
Who better to share hidden gems than those who have already navigated the journey? After listening to your feedback, we've launched several series to address the areas you want to learn about most.
The Mastering Medicine series focuses on thinking ahead, spotting opportunities, and maximizing current resources with practical steps to achieve long-term success.
Our Specialties Series features doctors from your most-voted specialties, sharing their personal journeys and offering specific, actionable advice on what they did to reach their goals.
We also launched our first Research Series, which focused on meta-analyses and systematic reviews - high-impact publications that are surprisingly accessible and rewarding for those starting out. We've given participants a chance to test it out by working in groups to carry out their own research in a speciality they're interested in!
Each series is designed to equip first-gen medics with the knowledge and opportunities needed to turn their aspirations into reality.