The LMSA MW Regional Conference will take place January 16-17, 2010 at University of Chicago in Chicago, IL.

LMSA anticipates over 200 medical student and premedical student attendees. These students are the leaders from LMSA chapters from around the Midwest.  They represent the Midwest members dedicated to improving Latino health care issues.

For more information, please visit our Web site.

Congratulations to Jeff Hsu (UCLA) and Jim Nguyen (UCLA) for organizing the 2009 National Conference in Los Angeles!

LOS ANGELES, CA – The University of California Los Angeles hosted APAMSA's 16th Annual National Conference on October 9-11, 2009. Over 350 medical and pre-medical students convened from all over the country to discuss issues ranging from Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) health disparities and healthcare reform to effective Hepatitis B and bone marrow drive outreach methods. This year’s theme of “Transforming Medicine: A Challenge for Future Leaders,” as described by organizers Jeff Hsu (UCLA) and Jim Nguyen (UCLA), allowed the attendees focus on their role as “the next generation of physicians, helping mold the face of healthcare in the midst of historic reforms.”

The opening keynote speakers—Asm. Mike Eng (CA, 49th district) and Asm. Fiona Ma (CA, 12th district, Majority Whip)—spoke to the theme of changing healthcare, and were followed by a healthcare panel featuring prominent figures such as Dr. Paul Song. The conference also showcased over 20 workshops and presentations, including talks on Integrative and Osteopathic Medicine, Liver Diseases in AAPIs as well as Educational Profiling of APA Students. This was also the first year that the Asian Pacific American Medical Association (APAMA) held workshops for AAPI physicians at the conference. Saturday’s events concluded with keynote lectures from author and the American Medical Women Association (AMWA) President-elect Dr. Eliza Lo Chin and Olympic gold medalist Dr. Sammy Lee, who each riveted the audience with stories about their personal journeys, struggles, and successes, both inside and outside the world of medicine.

This winter the Student Osteopathic Medical Association (SOMA) will join forces with Give Kids the World in Kissimmee, FL to volunteer their time to help fulfill wishes for children with life-threatening illnesses.   During the three-day venture from December 28-30, 2009, future osteopathic physicians from across the country will use their talents and abilities to assist with the operation of the village.

Give Kids the World is part of SOMA’s Unity Project, a community service project designed to create unity between medical students and the community, was installed in 2005.  In the past four years, the Unity Projects have helped Katrina victims in Mississippi in 2005, in 2006 osteopathic medical students volunteered their time at Give Kids the World, one hundred medical students helped homeless shelters in New York City in 2007, and last year SOMA returned to Give Kids the World to volunteer their time at the Village.

SOMA started volunteering at Give Kids the World four years ago. One of the medical students who initially helped organize the program was also a former guest of Give Kids the World Village. She had been diagnosed with a terminal illness as a child and was able to make her wishes come true. Her disease miraculously went into remission and she continued on through childhood and chose a career in medicine.  She wanted to give back to other children who were suffering like she had, so she helped organize the SOMA unity project to volunteer at Give Kids the World Village. Today, we continue her desire to give back by returning to volunteer.

The Unity Project is funded by the generosity of the American Osteopathic Foundation (AOF).

For more information about SOMA, please visit www.studentdo.com

On September 4-7, 2009, the medical students from the Student National Medical Association and other partner organizations marched from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama to advocate for health equity.  From the SNMA website, “We march to demand appropriate redress for the health inequalities that persist. We march to speak to the inequities that we bear daily witness to in our educational mission to serve.  We march because we as young future physicians have a powerful and unified voice that echoes far and wide and on behalf of those who go unheard.”

CIR’s president Dr. L. Toni Lewis spoke to the students in front of the capital house in Montgomery, Alabama.