Special to the Times
The Student National Medical Association (SNMA) on Saturday held its Fourth Annual Integrative Healthcare Summit.
SNMA is a national organization that promotes the advancement of all persons, but especially underrepresented minorities, in medicine. The local SNMA chapter at University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) hosted an all-day summit in Volker Hall for local high schools and universities to get exposure to all healthcare fields.
The summit was co-chaired by Melissa Jennings and Alana C. Jones and SNMA President Kristina Tymes-Wilbekin and Alana C. Nichols, Esq.
There were several sessions on topics from getting into and paying for college to choosing between the different healthcare career field options. The students even offered sessions on etiquette, post baccalaureate programs, and student led Q&A’s.
Hands on activities throughout the day included ultrasound workshops, suturing workshop and activities where students learned how to read x-rays and perform physical exams. There was a recruitment fair where local professional schools and organizations came out to give the participants information about making it into the healthcare field.
SNMA was founded in 1964 as a student sector of the National Medical Association. In a time when black physicians and medical students were being heard, there organizations provided a voice.
The Birmingham chapter strives to carry out the legacy and initiatives of the local regional and national organization and is dedicated to both increasing the number of underrepresented minorities in medicine and retaining these students by creating an atmosphere of cultural competence, inclusion and academic success.
