By Stephen Chien, MD ’26

The College of Medicine’s Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association (APAMSA), in partnership with other APAMSA chapters in the Northeast, came together on September 16 for their annual regional conference, held this year at Temple University. Attendees included pre-health students, medical students and residents from Temple, Drexel, the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins, Cooper, Georgetown, Sidney Kimmel, Penn State and more.

Second-year MD students and SNMA co-presidents Jazmin Belton, Ferdinand Anumba and Michelle Davis.

Hosted in collaboration with Temple’s Pre-Med APAMSA chapter and the APAMSA National Board, this event served as a platform for dialogue and collaboration in the realm of health care, diversity and cultural competence.

Offering a range of presentations on the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) experience, the conference’s theme was “Healing Our Past: Nurturing AANHPI Advocacy and Visibility.” The conference featured keynote speaker Lin Zhu, PhD, a professor at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine, who presented “Unified in Our Diversity to Improve Health Equity in AANHPI Communities.” Thoin Begum, PhD, from Temple’s Center for Asian Health, presented on DEI advocacy and leadership, Xiaoxi Ouyang, MD, a child and adolescent psychiatrist from Georgetown, discussed the upbringing and culture of AANHPI populations, and Esther Hio-Tong Castillo, PhD, the director of racial equity, storytelling and community impact, Office of Community Empowerment and Opportunity in the City of Philadelphia, discussed mental health initiatives and advocacy. The final speaker of the conference was Mohan Seshardi, the executive director of the Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance (API PA), who discussed the fight to save Chinatown from building developers.

Resident and pre-health panels were held for medical students and pre-health students, respectively. Included in the pre-health panel was Madhu Badri, MD ’26, from the College of Medicine at Tower Health in West Reading, who was able to share her journey to medicine. “They had a lot of interesting questions for me, such as asking me how my Asian parents dealt with me taking additional gap years before going into medical school, a concept that wasn’t common in their upbringing. It made me reflect and realize the unique viewpoint that I could share with pre-med students that had a similar cultural background to me,” Badri said.

The 2023 Region 3 APAMSA Conference was a resounding success, building new bridges within the AANHPI medical community. Attendees left with not only a wealth of knowledge, but also with a strengthened sense of community and a shared commitment to creating a more inclusive and culturally competent health care landscape.

By Jazmin Belton, MD ’26, and Michelle Davis, MD ’26

On October 21, Drexel University College of Medicine’s Student National Medical Association (SNMA) had the honor of hosting Region VIII’s Leadership Institute (RLI). RLI was originated by Leon McCrea II, MD, MPH, senior associate dean of diversity, equity and inclusion. He established the event during his tenure as the SNMA Region VIII director while attending the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. This conference aims to enhance the leadership skills of SNMA and MAPS (Minority Association of Pre-Medical Students) leaders and general members through educational seminars. This year’s theme was “The Transformative Art of Leadership: Changing Values Into Action.”

The keynote speaker, Yanick Vibert, DO, assistant professor of pediatrics, truly embodied this theme, emphasizing the importance of honoring your story, including the highs, the lows and the unforeseen. She highlighted that the hardships people endure on their path to medicine not only make them who they are, but also the physicians they aspire to become. Her speech was both impactful and inspiring, captivating all in attendance.

The conference also included a resident panel with physicians in family medicine, physical medicine and rehabilitation, anesthesiology and general surgery. The organizers were honored to have College of Medicine MD program and Drexel Pathway to Medical School (DPMS) alumni, Aderinsola Aderonmu, MD ’23, MS, ’19, and Adrian Oppong, MD ’22, in attendance. The panelists offered wonderful guidance about the resident application process and discussed how to exercise leadership skills in clinical practice when advocating and caring for patients.

Drexel University College of Medicine’s SNMA Chapter enjoyed hosting all in attendance and was honored to support current and future underrepresented minority medical students.

 
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