Career guidance and the Web: bridging the gap between the AAMC careers in Medicine Web site and local career guidance programs.

BACKGROUND: Medical students face a difficult challenge choosing a specialty. The Web offers several advantages in guiding students in the decision-making process. DESCRIPTION: The Vanderbilt University School of Medicine created a school-specific Web site to complement the Association of American Medical College's Careers in Medicine program. The goals were: connecting students with institution-specific resources, providing students with information on specialty choices and residency preparation, and promoting an interactive Web-based tool. A student team developed the Web site over several months. The site incorporates tracking tools to assess usage. During the first 240 days of use, the Web site has had 3,782 sessions viewing 29,864 Web pages. Monthly usage has trended upward.
CONCLUSIONS: Using the Web to provide school-specific career information can guide students in the difficult process of specialty selection. Future studies are required to assess the Web site's overall effectiveness and overall student satisfaction.