“On a national level, disparities in the retention and graduation rates among students of color occur because students don’t get the support that they need,” said Kameron Matthews, president-elect of the Student National Medical Association. “And that’s what we’re here for.”
Students from all over the country came to St. Louis last week for the SNMA’s 40th Annual Medical Education Conference, aptly titled “Show Me Success.” According to Matthews, there were nearly 2,000 registered members in attendance.
For three days, the Millennium Hotel was full of aspiring and current medical students of color, meeting and greeting and learning about their future professions.
In the conference, the SNMA addressed current health issues and crises faced by African Americans n most notably, health disparities and community involvement with regards to changing public policy to benefit underserved populations.
“Health-related laws and public policies are written by non-health professionals,” said Matthews. “And that has to change.”
Matthews is currently on leave from her final year of medical school and attending law school at the University of Chicago to strengthen her abilities to change health policy.
The first round of the conference was dedicated to medical students and focused on their specific concentrations, specialties and areas of interest. Then, the medical students went from observers to administrators and facilitated workshops for the pre-med students, with topics ranging from how to pay for medical school to how to best spend your summer vacation.
The medical students served as temporary mentors for the weekend, offering up motivational support and informative advice. At a question-and-answer session between medical and pre-med students, questions about every aspect of being a minority in medical school kept coming, fast and furious.
“Don’t let them (white counterparts and professors) discourage or intimidate you,” said Mark Dudley. “This is a blessing, because somebody out there wants to be where you are.”
Answering a question about interviewing for medical school, Christina Wyman, a third-year medical student at Johns Hopkins University, said, “In the interview process, it’s okay to be human. The interviewer wants to know that you can relate to a patient on some level.”
Pre-med students had a chance to participate in mock interviews to get first-hand advice on how to conduct themselves during interviews.
“This is really encouraging and inspirational,” said one student, as he passed from one workshop to the next. “I am learning things that I haven’t in the classroom.”
The conference concluded with a forum that allowed medical and pre-medical students to discuss the successes and failures of the event and talk openly and candidly about what can be done to improve next year’s conference.
Judging from the feedback from participants, the most impressive element of the conference by far was the opportunity for fellowship. Students who are often alone in a class were afforded the rare opportunity to meet and network with hundreds of other minority students working toward a career in medicine.
“These are our future colleagues,” said Matthews. “And, through the conference, we can start networking and building professional relationships now.”
The SNMA was established in 1964 by medical students from Howard University and Meharry Medical College. It is dedicated to ensuring culturally sensitive medical education and service and increasing the number of students of color who enter and complete medical school. There are currently more than 5,000 SNMA members throughout the country.
For more information about the Student National Medical Association, visit www.snma.org.
