{"id":1562,"date":"2019-04-27T08:33:05","date_gmt":"2019-04-27T12:33:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/atashajordan.com\/?p=1562"},"modified":"2020-02-01T18:56:56","modified_gmt":"2020-02-01T23:56:56","slug":"recap-of-snma-amec-2019-mecca-of-black-excellence-in-medicine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atashajordan.com\/blog\/recap-of-snma-amec-2019-mecca-of-black-excellence-in-medicine\/","title":{"rendered":"Recap of SNMA AMEC 2019: Mecca of Black Excellence in Medicine"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This year, the Student National Medical Association (SNMA) showed out at the Annual Medical Education Conference (AMEC)! SNMA is a student group comprised of black medical students across the United States. Students at Howard and Meharry medical schools started this student group in 1964 \"to nurture and support the academic enrichment of its medical student members, but also to serve communities in a very real and proactive way.\" (snma.org<\/a>)<\/p>\n

The AMEC 2019 conference theme was\u00a0The Call for Excellence: Improving the Future of Medicine through Leadership, Service, and Activism.<\/i>\u00a0The conference consisted of a variety of workshops and panel discussions to help guide premed and medical students along the journey of becoming \"socially competent and clinically excellent physicians.\" At the conference, attendees had the opportunity to network with fellow students and physicians from around the country. \u00a0There were dynamic speakers and panels that provided insight and inspired attendees to\u00a0Lead, Serve<\/i><\/b>, and become\u00a0Active<\/i><\/b>\u00a0in the communities that need excellent health care providers and advocates (paragraph<\/em>\u00a0adapted from the conference website<\/a><\/em>).<\/p>\n

SNMA's annual conference, AMEC, aims to create a space for black premeds, medical students, and physicians to learn, grow, and connect. But in reality, AMEC also serves as a mecca, a homecoming for thousands of black medical doctors and future doctors to bask in the beauty of black excellence.<\/p>\n

\"AMEC<\/p>\n

Participating in AMEC Sessions<\/strong><\/h5>\n

This year was only my second time attending AMEC. I'd previously gone to AMEC during my first year of medical school but haven't had the chance to attend since. However, because the conference was in my home city of Philadelphia this year, there was NO WAY I was going to miss it.<\/p>\n

As much as I love the fact that AMEC brings folks together for a big family reunion, I also wanted to make sure that I got as much from and put as much into AMEC as possible. I jumped at the opportunity to sit on panels to give advice to premedical students who attended the conference. At the conference, I participated in two sessions. First, I contributed to a panel on the topic of taking gap years<\/a> before medical school. I took one gap year before medical school, and it was one of the best decisions I ever made. So it was a cool opportunity for me to speak to approximately 100 premedical students about the pros and cons of a gap year, in addition to how to navigate finding the right enrichment opportunities.<\/p>\n

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The second activity that I took part in at AMEC this year was a Speed Networking session with premedical students. In one hour, I got to meet about 30 students from across the country. I was amazed at how much the students had already accomplished, and most hadn't even graduated from college as yet! Mentorship is incredibly important to me because bad advisors have tried to derail me in the past; however, I kept working towards my goals because I found people who would lift me up instead. One of my goals is to be a voice of encouragement to the students I meet because everyone deserves to be told that their dreams are valid, especially when they're putting in the work to reach their goals!<\/p>\n

Learning From AMEC Sessions<\/strong><\/h5>\n

In addition to participating in sessions at AMEC, I took advantage of the ample opportunities to learn. Whether through the keynote sessions or panels, there was a ton of great content throughout the weekend. I'm biased as a soon to be resident psychiatrist, but my favorite academic session of the conference was a panel on Mental Health in the Black Community. The panelists were Penn Medicine psychiatrists who answered an assortment of questions covering topics ranging from trauma in the black community to the difference between mental health and mental illness. I live-tweeted the panel, so feel free to check out this Twitter\u00a0thread<\/a> to see all of the gems that the panelists dropped. I've also included some of the top tweets below.<\/p>\n

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Stigma related to mental illnesses isn\u2019t limited to minority communities. There is stigma in all communities. #AMEC2019<\/a> #MedTwitter<\/a> #pscyhtwitter<\/a> #MentalHealthAwareness<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Atasha Jordan (@AtashaJordan) April 20, 2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n