2018 NMQF Leadership Summit on Health Disparities and Spring Health Braintrust Recap

SNMA Past Presidents with Congressman John Lewis and Congresswoman Maxine Waters

***Yes, I know what everyone is dying to read about, but I’m still behind on the updates and I’m also in the process of revamping the blog, so bear with me for a few days and then you’ll be up-to-date on all the graduation goodies****

A few days after I returned from my trip to Colombia last month, I had the pleasure of attending the National Minority Quality Forum’s (NMQF) Leadership Summit in Washington, DC. This is a yearly summit where healthcare leaders from across the country convene to discuss healthcare issues affecting minority communities. Due to my position of being this past year’s SNMA National President, I had the pleasure of being invited as a guest of the American Medical Association (AMA) Minority Affairs Section (MAS), and they graciously covered all my expenses to attend the summit. I was especially excited to attend the summit because it is also where the 40 Under 40 Leaders in Healthcare awards are given, and two fellow past SNMA national presidents were being honored.

Love the A3 and E2 token given to me by a physician in attendance

I attended sessions with topics ranging from ending cancer disparities to reducing risky health behaviors in young adults. My daughter was not happy with all the inquisitive texts I started to send her as a result of the panel, LOL. I also got to hear from many notable speakers such as Dr. Jerome M. Adams, who currently serves as the 20th Surgeon General of the United States. It was simply an amazing experience being in a room filled with US senators, CEOs, and University Presidents, and listening to all their knowledge on various healthcare topics really inspired me. 

African American museum fun with my mentee and her fam!

On the final day of the summit, the last session ended at 245pm and the awards dinner wasn’t until 7pm, so I couldn’t pass up the chance to get in touch with my mentee who lives in the Washington D.C. area. Another plus was since I had to wake up early each morning for the summit, I was able to grab same day tickets to the National Museum of African American History and Culture and take her and her sons to the museum. We were pushing it with time, and only had an hour and a half to spend at the museum before it closed, but it was an amazing experience. I will definitely be making plans to go back, because there was so much I missed. It was great, but it is something that a full day needs to be carved out for.

Speaking into existence: next year's 40 under 40

When it came time for the awards dinner, I had a blast! I sat next to an internist with a great personality as well as a fellow medical student representing the Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA). My LMSA buddy and I pretty much decided that next year we’re going for the 40 Under 40 Leaders in Healthcare Award, so be on the lookout for us! Additionally, both Congressman John Lewis and Congresswoman Maxine Waters were award recipients, and their speeches were so inspiring. I was elated to take selfies with both of them afterwards, and they also agreed to be a part of a picture with all the SNMA past presidents in attendance. It was an awesome experience.

Teaching, mentoring, and volunteering at a local high school

On my last day in town before flying out, I had the pleasure of being a part of the AMA’s Doctors Back to School visit in conjunction with Mentoring in Medicine. We went to a local high school and taught over 200 ninth and tenth grade males how to dissect chicken wings. My class consisted of 9^th graders who were a joy to teach. I went over the anatomy of the human arm with them, related it to the chicken wing, and then we went to work. Their comments about how gross the chicken was had me cracking up. Afterwards, myself along with two physicians discussed our backgrounds and had a Q&A session with our class. It was my favorite moment of the week, and I look forward to doing more volunteering and mentoring as a physician.

That pretty much sums up my time at the summit. My next posts will be all graduation related, so get ready!

Selfies with great and influential people :)