Background: Resource limitations for medical students (MS) lead to higher attrition and decreased rate of overall matching, including matching into competitive specialties. Research shows that there are factors that influence student recruitment into competitive specialties including early research involvement, availability of specialty academic residency programs, accessibility of educational resources, mentorship, and networking opportunities. The Meharry Medical College American Medical Association funded, Inter-institutional Multispecialty Interest Group Retreat MIIGR was developed in a resource limited environment, to impact these factors amongst MS. The purpose of this study is to analyze the students’ perception of MIIGR for navigating the medical career process (MCP) and the influence of factors impacting recruitment. Methods; A survey was given to 179 medical students before and after the MIIGR. Among the 179 that completed the initial survey, 86 completed the post-survey. Eight were first years, 35 were second years, and 43 were third years. Forty of those who responded attended last year’s interest group retreat. Shapiro-Wilk and Levene's tests were used to determine the normality and homogeneity of each pre- and post-survey question. Data was examined overall and by year. All analyses and graphics were conducted using R/RStudio version 4.3.2 and SPSS Version 29. Results: After the MIIGR, MS had a significantly clearer understanding of the nature and role of a competitive application (p-value < 0.001), how to produce a competitive application for residency (p-value < 0.001), how objective measures play in a competitive application for residency (p-value < 0.001), role that research plays in a competitive application for residency (p-value < 0.001), the role that publications and frameworks that support publication activity play in a competitive application (p-value < 0.001), resources that can help in a competitive application (p-value < 0.001), the role of sub-internships play a competitive application for residency (p-value < 0.001) after attending the retreat. Survey data points also displayed utilized scores (4 or 5) for MS who agree or strongly agree with the following: 93% of MS stated that faculty/residency program directors encouraged students to ask questions and actively participate, further MS noted the following ; increased awareness of residency program requirements(94%); that the retreat effectively increased awareness of available educational resources(75%); believed the retreat effectively enhanced early specialty involvement in research opportunities(74%); reported the retreat increased networking or awareness of networking opportunities;(88%)MS were able to connect with external mentors in their desired specialty in the initial period after the IGR(67%),;provided some initial benefits and resources that otherwise may not have been as easily accessible due to not having specific academic specialty programs at their institution; (84%) reported an increased awareness of the competitive culture of various subspecialties;(87%) and 88% of attendees intended to use the information they gained from the retreat to position themselves to be a more competitive residency candidate. Conclusion : MS perceived an improved awareness and utilization of resources potentially improving the navigation of MCP and applicant recruitment. Further research will evaluate longterm outcomes.