Last Thursday, Dr. Kayla Hester hosted an interest meeting for the mentorship program, a course where students shadow and assist a local business.

During the meeting Dr. Hester discussed the main details of the course. “You can do mentorship for one or two semesters, it’s up to you,” she told the students. “If you do it for one semester, you get a grade — you get in on your transcript. If you do it two semesters, which is 70 hours total, so 35 per semester, you actually get a half unit of elective credit.”

In order for the mentorship to count on a student’s transcript, he or she must complete the 35 hours each semester, as well as a few short writing assignments.

Since MSMS’s research program sounds similar to mentorship, Dr. Hester explained the difference between the two. She said, “[Research students] go to Mississippi state and work in the labs. This is more like a career experience. These are the people working in dentist offices, or with pharmacists, or with architects.”

Though she will do her best to get everyone in the field they want, Dr. Hester noted that some fields are more difficult to find a spot in. The medical area, the hospital especially, is less enthusiastic about taking students. “A lot of people want to be placed at the hospital,” said Dr. Hester, “but they have been increasingly resistant on taking us.”

However, in more specialized medical professions, such as veterinarians, optometrists, physical therapists, or dentists, students are often able to find a mentor more easily. “Think of something that is applicable in this area,” Dr. Hester suggested. Most of the time, students are able to find someone who works with what they are interested in.