Students Bring Back Lessons, Opportunities for Growth From a Premedical Conference

Apr 28, 2023

Four students with the AMEC balloon arch at the conference entrance.

Four students attended the 2023 Annual Medical Education Conference (AMEC) of the Student National Medical Association (SNMU) in Harford, Connecticut, with the support of Grinnell College’s Wilson Center for Innovation and Leadership.

Motivations for Attending

Jonah Eom ’24 Uyen-Vy Hoang ’23, Sahil Kumar ’24, and Salil Kumar ’24 participate in a student organization affiliated with SNMU’s Minority Association of Premedical Students (MAPS). The students’ goals for attending this conference were many and varied, but they all felt a responsibility to learn as much as they could from the conference sessions and then share their new knowledge with other premedical students at Grinnell College.

I originally hoped to learn more about how to apply to both medical and dental schools in the United States. During the conference, therefore, I focused my attention on sessions in which current medical students, aspiring premedical students, or doctors talked about what courses of action they took to reach their current positions.

Jonah Eom ’24

I planned to talk to as many people as possible — recruiters, doctors, admission officers, and even medical students — in order to obtain a good idea of what I would have to do to make myself a very competitive applicant and share that knowledge with fellow Grinnellians.

Salil Kumar ’24

Panels That Inspire

The conference consisted of lectures, panels, workshops, research presentations, premedical fairs, and a tour of the University of Connecticut medical school, where participants got a peek into a medical student’s typical day. There were plenty of opportunities to network and learn about becoming a competitive applicant to medical schools.

Speakers that talked about current issues and equity in modern medicine had a big impact on the students. These were talks such as colonization in medicine, treating homeless people in America, and underprivileged communities across Africa.

Hoang was moved by the Dr. Adewale Troutman Health Equity Plenary, titled Combating Housing Instability through Advocacy, Education, and Service, and other panels during the conference. She says, "The speakers addressed the importance of harm reduction and building trust with patients who are unhoused and have likely experienced past abuses in the healthcare system. I also attended a panel that was specific to those interested in family medicine; the physicians spoke about their reasons for choosing their specialty, including valuing continuing relationships with patients and the opportunity to serve in multiple environments such as clinics, in/outpatient offices, and community centers.”

Premedical Fair Was a Favorite Event

The premedical fair was one of the students’ favorite events at the conference. In addition to being a personal networking opportunity, they found it most beneficial to their development as pre-health student leaders on the Grinnell College campus. They learned more about individual medical schools and their admission requirements and processes, and they could talk to current medical students.

Eom says he learned that very few universities with medical schools have dental schools, too, and that medical schools prefer applicants who are well-rounded in both academics and experience. He can now share with other premedical students at Grinnell that “it’s not a good idea to focus only on academics and test scores, because schools also take into consideration volunteering, research, and an applicant’s extracurricular activities that demonstrate their passion and effort.”

I really loved this event because along with learning more about the schools, I was able to talk to current students who were able to answer my more specific questions such as class structure and clinical exposure.

Sahil Kumar

Bringing Lessons Learned Back to Campus

Going into the conference, Salil Kumar says he “had limited knowledge, resources, and connections which are often very vital in the field of medicine.” Now, he says, after reflecting on the experience and realizing many of his premedical friends at Grinnell are in the same situation, “I have been looking into more things I can do to create opportunities for me and my peers in terms of finding more future connections.”

Reflecting on the conference experience, Sahil Kumar realizes “my path ahead was going to be difficult, but now at least I had the tools to carve my way through …. Part of my responsibility in going to this conference was to help my premedical peers as well, and so [we] worked on communicating this knowledge to others by giving a presentation hosted by MAPS where we reflected on our experience at AMEC, gave advice, and answered any questions.”

Eom has thought more about his own abilities since attending the conference and says, "The experience has pushed me to step up as a leader and engage in guiding other students to think strategically about health-related careers. [We] have begun to bring the lessons we learned from the event to the Grinnell community, ranging from admission strategies to choosing gap years.”

The speakers and people I met at AMEC emphasized the social justice aspect of medicine and how crucial physician advocacy is in creating health equity. My experience at AMEC has motivated me to pursue medicine with this goal of advocacy in mind, and after presenting my takeaways to fellow pre-health students, I hope they feel encouraged to continue their pursuits in leadership within healthcare as well.

Uyen-Vy Hoang ’23