This past Saturday, the student AMA and student SNMA chapters of SUNY Buffalo hosted its first Doctors Back to School Program (DBTS), which is an AMA initiative targeted to help increase the number of minority physicians in the US. As many of you know, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans comprise nearly 1/4 of the U.S. population. In 30 years, these groups are expected to make up 1/3 of the U.S. population. Surprisingly, only 7% of physicians and 6% of medical school faculty come from these groups. The goal of the DBTS is to help address this issue and encourage young minority students to pursue a career in medicine and make them realize that this is a profession that is attainable with dedication, hard work, and mentorship.
The event took place on a Saturday morning at UB's South Campus. 5 physicians consisting of a cardiologist, internist, family physician, pediatrician and obstetrician/gynecologist participated in the program's panel discussion. Of the 5 physicians, Dr. Kenneth Gayles was one of the first African American students to be accepted at SUNY Buffalo School of Medicine in the late 1960s. About 20 college students attended, and 5 medical students volunteered to assist in the event.
Overall, both the physicians and students enjoyed the event. The students thought that the program was helpful in meeting other physicians and medical students who have the same background as them. They also thought that the discussions and past experiences of the doctors and medical students helped encourage them to pursue their dream of becoming a physician.
Additional photos from the event can be seen
here!
The 2nd annual Doctors Back to School event is taking place on Wednesday May 2nd from 12:30 P.M-2:30 P.M. at the Health Sciences Charter School located at 1140 Ellicott Street. It's a joint AMA/SNMA event that has medical students interact with minority high school students and encourages them to consider medicine as a field. All are encouraged to sign up and participate. Furthermore, it would be great if all current SNMA members are able to attend this event and help in either (1) helping students listen to heart and lungs, (2) showing them what we look for when performing a neurological/ physical exam or (3) showing them how to suture.Through out these interactions we would be telling them of how we accomplished our dream of being the medical students we are today!!
