Announcing the Professional Mentoring Network

The most common question I hear from families isn't about test scores or essay topics — it's about what comes after the acceptance. "What does my student actually do with this degree?" It's the right question, and for most students, the answer is frustratingly abstract. A career path looks like a job title on a website, not like a person they've met.

That's why I'm announcing the Professional Mentoring Network — a year-round series of monthly sessions built into every Direct Engagement at Mikael Davis Academy. Starting in September 2026, our clients will sit down (virtually) with terminal-degree graduates from across the professional landscape: physicians, physical therapists, pharmacists, scientists, attorneys, and PhD candidates from institutions like Meharry Medical College, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Johns Hopkins, and Emory.

Each session is designed around the questions students actually have but rarely ask: What does the day-to-day work look like? How did you decide on this path — and what almost talked you out of it? What do you wish someone had told you when you were sitting where I'm sitting? The answers are specific, honest, and immediately useful.

Who participates

The Professional Mentoring Network is available to every Direct Engagement client — families and institutions who retain Mikael Davis for private consulting. But exposure to professional pathways shouldn't be limited to those who can afford one-to-one guidance. That's why students enrolled in The AMCAS Blueprint and The Graduate School Preparation Blueprint also receive invitations to the Network with their subscriptions. If you're working through either course, you'll get the same access to the same mentors as our private clients.

The schedule

The inaugural series runs from September 2026 through June 2027, with a different mentor each month:

• September 2026 — De'Shjuan Triplett, DPT, St. Joseph's University
• October 2026 — Cristen Flewellen, MD, Meharry Medical College
• November 2026 — Tracey Edwards, PhD, Michigan State University
• December 2026 — Robert Gresham III, PharmD, UNC-Chapel Hill
• January 2027 — Rachel Sutton, PhD, Wichita State University
• February 2027 — Stephanie Ridley, PhD Candidate, University of Massachusetts - Amherst
• March 2027 — A'Lyrika Bowens, JD, Emory University
• April 2027 — Sydney Williams, PhD Candidate, University of California - San Francisco
• May 2027 — Letrell Harris, PhD Candidate, University of Hawaii at Manoa
• June 2027 — Sierra Williams-McLeod, PhD Candidate, Johns Hopkins University

Terminal degree graduates and session months are subject to change; students will receive the specific schedule once they enroll in our service.

Why this matters

A career isn't a destination — it's a series of decisions made with the information you have at the time. The Professional Mentoring Network exists to give students better information, earlier. When you've met a physician who looks like you, who came from a school like yours, who can tell you exactly what the first year of medical school is like — the path stops being abstract. It becomes a plan.

That's the work. That's the Academy.