Two Tufts pre-med students won national positions at a recent meeting of the American Medical Student Association (AMSA).
Senior Ashiyana Nariani, president of the pre-med society at Tufts and an active member in AMSA, gained a spot on the premedical division of AMSA's Board of Trustees for Tufts' region, Region 1. Freshman Keith Martin was elected as a national
representative for humanistic medicine.
The ASMA, which held its annual conference Mar. 29 - Apr. 2 in Chicago, is a student-governed organization which affords medical students opportunities for job experience and promotes political advocacy in the professional health community.
Nariani's post entails increasing awareness of the society and supporting enrollment and funding.
Nariani first became involved in the society as a freshman. She was intrigued by the
organization, which offered pre-med students something beyond textbooks, labs and problem sets.
"It just hit me how much a pre-med can do," she said. "Pre-med takes up your life, but these people have so much passion. It's huge that you're able to make a difference."
After attending her first national convention in Washington, D.C. as a freshman, Nariani decided to become more involved.
"It's far reaching. There's so much of an impact this organization has," Nariani said, citing recent student-led rallies for universal healthcare.
Freshman Keith Martin, a newcomer to the pre-medical student community, also attended this year's Chicago convention and was elected national representative for humanistic medicine.
In his new role, Martin will be able to focus on the aspect of medicine that drew him to the field in the first place.
Martin had vacillated between medicine and a more humanities-oriented career path, but he decided on the former because of his interest in less conventional methods of healing like yoga and acupuncture.
He believes such techniques have
therapeutic qualities, even if they are not considered part of the medical mainstream.
He aims to increase awareness of humanistic medicine by bringing speakers to Tufts and organizing intercollegiate retreats to further educate students.
Martin said that AMSA establishes the framework for this type of advocacy, but students must ultimately have the commitment to pursue what they view as important. "[AMSA] provides a venue for people to initiate change if they want to," he said. "They're going to give you opportunities to [pursue your interests.]"
The association is America's largest independent organization for physicians-in-training, according to Jay Bhatt, newly elected AMSA president and student at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.
"AMSA provides opportunities for med students to get involved in issues they're passionate about and feel connected to communities they're working with," Bhatt said.
According to Bhatt, national conventions help galvanize members and bind them more closely together in their collective pursuit of medical goals by fostering a group atmosphere - especially important for pre-med students, he said.
At this year's annual convention, medical and pre-medical students from across the nation voted on AMSA policy for a host of health issues, including politically charged topics such as stem cell research and universal healthcare.
The students in attendance also voted as a body to fill 100 spots on the numerous action committees that oversee and execute AMSA's various objectives.
