SNMA National Leadership Institute June 2015 Recap

You would think being out of school for almost two and a half weeks now would equal a ton of sleep and extra relaxation, but nope, not for this girl! I have somehow managed to stay extra busy and on-the-go, and so far I’ve loved every minute of it.

Fully transitioned into my new role as SNMA Osteopathic Schools Co-Chair

This past weekend I found myself in Wilmington, Delaware and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania attending the Student National Medical Association’s National Leadership Institute and Board of Directors’ Meetings. This NLI was hosted by Christiana Care Health System (CCHS), and they did an amazing job with the prepared workshops, talks, food, and general sessions. I learned so much about leadership and work-life balance as a physician, and we even had the chance to speak with current residents and find out about the residency programs that CCHS has to offer.

Great time meeting Edmondo Robinson, MD, MBA of CCHS 

My favorite part of the weekend was getting the chance to meet and talk with Edmondo Robinson, MD, MBA, who not only is a former Vice-President of SNMA, but he currently serves as the Associate Chief Medical Officer of Christiana Care Health System. He presented two talks (one titled “The 5 A’s pf Failure” and the other called “The 5 F’s of Success”) that were absolutely amazing! I plan to do future blog posts on the information he presented, because it is absolutely too good not to share. It was also nice being able to sit with him during dinner and ask questions about his career and personal life, and he shared a lot of valuable advice on just about everything.

Learned about leadership and met Edith P. Mitchell, MD, current President-Elect of The National Medical Association

My other favorite session focused on balancing life in medicine, and it was presented by Deborah K. Witt, MD, of Sidney Kimmel Medical College. In this workshop, she gave the attendees a chance to talk about how they currently balance life as students on the path of medicine, and she offered some excellent suggestions to further help us seek a good balance. This session stuck out to me because as a single mother in medical school, I am always trying to find a way to maintain a good balance and my sanity. I also attended talks focused on becoming a leader in medicine, and I even had the chance to meet and chat with current President-Elect of The National Medical Association, Edith P. Mitchell, MD, who also presented a nice talk focused on Medicare.

The bulk of my weekend: meetings, meetings, and more meetings!

In addition to attending amazing workshops, I also sat in a number of Board of Directors meetings where, as the 2015-16 SNMA Osteopathic Schools Co-Chair, I had the chance to discuss new ideas and ways to make SNMA an even better organization. These meetings took up quite a bit of time, so I wasn’t able to go out and explore the cities I was in, but it was such a pleasure working and interacting with fellow members of the BOD. Our last meeting even took place at Thomas Jefferson (now Sidney Kimmel Medical College), and it was very nostalgic for me since during my previous career as a research associate, I had the chance to collaborate with many people at the institution. It was nice finally being able to see the campus in person for the first time.

Being on this campus brought back memories of my time as a research associate

Other than that, it was a super amazing weekend, and I am glad I had the opportunity to attend. I am also excited to be working with some amazing individuals within SNMA leadership, and I can’t wait for everyone to see what we have in store this year. Our next NLI will be held at Duke University School of Medicine in September, so if anyone reading this is interested, I would love to see you there!