Earlier this month, Trinity student Ramneek Hoonjan attended the annual AMSA (American Medical Student Association) in Washington, D.C. We’re incredibly glad she could attend, and excited to share her write up of the experience below!
I had the privilege of attending the annual AMSA Convention in Washington D.C this year. AMSA, the American Medical Student Association, is the oldest and largest independent organization of physicians-in-training in the United States. AMSA is governed entirely by students and schools all over the world have local chapters. Our chapter here at Trinity School of Medicine was established in 2015 and has been growing ever since.
AMSA is committed to giving future physicians a voice and aiding each other through their academic journey. Each year, AMSA holds a convention in Washington D.C. that includes various speakers, seminars, poster presentations, clinical skill workshops, etc. This year’s speakers included, but were not limited to Dr. Leana Wen (health commissioner of the Baltimore city health department and previous AMSA national president), Brad Jenkins (executive producer of “Funny or Die”), Dr. Rishi Desai (chief medical officer of Osmosis), Dr. Daniel Blumenthal (president of the American College of Preventative Medicine) and many more!
Left to right: Dylan Carroll, Alyssa Heinrich, Daniel Rodé, Michele Young, Benjamin Daggett, Ramneek Hoonjan, and Sean Beplate
Day one was kicked off with Advocacy Day which involved students going to Capitol Hill to speak to their state representatives regarding the Affordable Care Act. The next couple of days were filled with seminars on residency and match tips, interviewing skills, information regarding specialties, ethical and legal dilemmas, clinical skills workshops, and tons more. Medical review companies such as Kaplan, Becker’s, Doctors in Training, and Osmosis were all present to talk about their products and services.
It was a weekend full of inspiring stories and messages. Everyone had such positive energy. I even ran into some Trinity students currently doing clerkships in Baltimore. It was great to see them doing so well and hear advice from them in person.
Gianna Guzzardo (picture right) and Paul Cartwright (picture left) presented their research poster on “A Novel Surgical Technique: Abdominal Wall Reconstruction Utilizing a Pfannenstiel Abdominoplasty, Component Separation, Biological Mesh Underlay, and Biosynthetic Overlay” at the 22nd Annual AMSA Poster Session and Project Exhibition.
Sometimes on the island, we can get too focused and lose sight of the end goal of medical school. It was empowering to see other Trinity students out there putting forth a good name and to hear speakers recognize our school’s name. Together we are a powerful network of our own.
I would highly encourage everyone to attend at least one AMSA convention throughout their medical education. You won’t regret it! If anyone has any questions or would like to know about my experience at the convention, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
We offer our sincere gratitude to Ms. Hoonjan for both attending and supplying us with this terrific write-up. Click here to learn more about AMSA and Trinity School of Medicine.
