Saint Louis

sfmentorship@gmail.com

About SF Mentoring

About Our Organization

SF Mentoring (SFM) stands for "savoir faire," which colloquially means proper upbringing.

SFM is an organization run by medical student volunteers designed to help college students pursue their dreams of attending medical school. Applicants to medical schools are much more diverse than ever, with many applying in college, after a gap year, or even from another career. Additionally, applicants have different target schools, with a variety of allopathic and osteopathic programs to choose from.

What do we do?

We match pre-medical students with a medical student who can provide personalized advising that matches their journey and goals. COVID-19 left pre-medical students searching for guidance, virtually, from those who have been through the medical school admissions process. Our free, structured advising service aims to meet this great need in our community.

Board of Directors

Our Founders

Co-founders (from left to right): Kevin Yang, Lazarus Zamora, Awais Paracha, Michael Lugo, Rohan Das, Zohair Siddiqui

In June of 2020, Rohan Das, Michael Lugo, Awais Paracha, Zohair Siddiqui, Kevin Yang, and Lazarus Zamora founded SF Mentoring at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. At this time many opportunities were shut down to college undergraduates due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns and safety measures. This group of medical students recognized the loss of interaction undergraduates would suffer. Hence, they decided as a collective to start their own organization, focused on mentoring pre-medical students through an online medium. SF stands for “Savoir Faire,” which means “proper upbringing” in French, capturing the sentiment our mentors share as they guide premedical students through the medical school admissions process.

The success of SF Mentoring at Saint Louis University soon spread to other states in the Midwest and East Coast; medical students and pre-medical undergraduates alike would join as mentor and mentee, respectively. By 2022, SF Mentoring had expanded its members from a group of twenty to over two hundred. Following this growth, we encourage our forthcoming physicians to stand true to our ideals and principles of promoting a culture of passing the torch and sending the elevator back down. We strive to provide guidance and better prepare the future generation of physicians with a clear path to achieve their dreams. We hope to see SF Mentoring continue to prosper and grow with like-minded individuals who share the same vision.

Previous Executive Boards

2022-2023 Leadership

Executive Director - Claire Schroll

Matching & Onboarding - Edward Gardner

Outreach & Expansion - Jenny Blasius

Recruitment - Helen Shung

Mentor/Mentee Relations - Shalaka Nimmagadda

Social Media - Riley Wolk

2021-2022 Leadership

Executive Director - Joshua Kim

Matching & Onboarding - Nikita Peramsetty

Outreach & Expansion - Nicholas Wu

Recruitment - Girija Vaidya

Mentor/Mentee Relations - Osha Chesnutt-Perry

Social Media - Julia Hughes

2020-2021 Leadership - Founding Board

Executive Director - Rena Wang

Matching & Onboarding - Kevin Yang, Michaella Nasr

Outreach & Expansion - Abdi Abud, Evan Lin

Recruitment - Awais Paracha, Ali Abid

Mentor/Mentee Relations - Lazarus Zamora, Ivana Massabki

Data Analytics - Michael Lugo, Annabel Engelhardt

Website Director - Zohair Siddiqui

Social Media - Annabel Engelhardt

Rohan Das, Humza Rehman

Head Article Writer (2022-Present) - Joshua Kim

Backend & Website Management (2021-Present), Writing Services (Qalam) Director (2020-Present) - Ali Abid

Current Executive Board

Meha Pandya

Executive Director

Hi! My name is Meha and I am currently an M1 at SLU but originally am from the suburbs of Chicago. I graduated from Nova Southeastern University with majors in Behavioral Neuroscience and Biology. In my free time, I love to go on run, read, cook, and drink coffee! I am excited to help you through the pre-medical process. I look forward to getting to know you!

Hi! I’m Ethan and I’m an M1 at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. I graduated from Loyola University Chicago in 2022 where I majored in music and minored in Spanish. In my free time, I played mellophone in Loyola's pep band and used to play in the Chicago Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra.

Ethan Wang

Matching & Onboarding

Rachel Hsu

Outreach & Expansion

My name is Rachel, and I'm an M1 and Saint Louis University School of Medicine. I graduated from Saint Louis University last spring, where I majored in biology and minored in Spanish. I am from the Chicago suburbs, and I love to run, bake, and go for hikes.

Hi! My name is Abby, and I am a first year medical student at SLU. I'm from the STL area and graduated with a degree in neuroscience from Saint Louis University. I'm a huge foodie so in my free time, I love to try new recipes and visit new restaurants and coffee shops. Hopefully, I can provide you with whatever support, advice, and guidance you might be looking for!

Abby Chu

Recruitment

Cayden Lawrence

Mentor/Mentee Relations

Hi I’m Cayden! I went to Mizzou for undergrad and majored in Biology and Psychology. I am from Saint Louis though and am happy to be back in the area at SLU School of Medicine! In my free time I love spending time with friends and family, trying new restaurants, and going for walks and runs!

Hi! My name is Olivia Rose, and I am a first year medical student at SLU! I am from St. Louis, but I went to Rockhurst University for undergrad which is in Kansas City. I enjoy hanging out with friends/family, trying new restaurants, and traveling! Looking forward to getting to know you!