Never Enough: ADHD Experiences in Asian Americans
Working with Limited English Proficient Patients and their Interpreters
WE Medicine: Convergence of Western and Eastern Medicine to Develop
Future Medicines
These titles represent a few of the breakout session topics at the day-long annual Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association (APAMSA) Region I/II conference on Saturday, October 12, at Yale School of Medicine (YSM). APAMSA is a national organization of medical and pre-medical students committed to addressing the unique health challenges of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities. (Regions 1 and 2 encompass New England, New York, and New Jersey.)
YSM’s APAMSA affinity group, which applied for and was selected to host the conference, played a key role organizing it. About 250 students from almost 30 schools attended, as well as 25 guest speakers. In addition to medical school students, some nursing, PA, and pre-health undergraduate students also attended, including undergraduates from Yale and the University of New Haven.
Second-year YSM MD student and Service and Conference Co-chair Rebecca Chang explained that the Yale APAMSA board “knew early on we wanted to explore alternative medicine and health disparities, and after a few discussions with the regional directors, we came up with our conference theme,” which was Threads of Wellness: Weaving Community, Connectedness and Cultural Humility within the AANHPI Experience.
The breadth of the breakout sessions allowed for robust discussion and reflection related to the theme. In addition to topics focused on health disparities and alternative medicine, there were panels related to mentoring, applying to and thriving in residency, and Creating Your Personal Roadmap into Medicine—a session aimed at pre-health college students. A lunchtime poster session provided an opportunity for students to showcase their research.
Chang, along with National APAMSA Region 2 Director Sarah Lee, said the organizers hoped “attendees would leave the conference with a greater calling to address some of the unique health disparities that many Asians and Asian Americans face day in and out.” Another aim, Chang and Lee said, was “to help equip these bright students with professional and social networks that can help them target some core issues.”
Feedback from panelist and YSM Professor of Medicine Barry J. Wu, MD, reflected they succeeded in these goals. Wu’s positive feedback included specific points, such as praising YSM third-year MD student Jasmine Jiang’s “brilliant” idea to use the time parents were waiting for their children at a Chinese language school to teach parents how to preform CPR. Jasmine titled this innovative educational session Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest in Asian Americans: Current Issues & Local Solutions. More broadly, Wu told the conference organizers, “I left the conference so encouraged by your leadership, collaboration, and encouragement to the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and beyond communities. Congratulations on a spectacular conference!”
The team organizing the conference included YSM’s APAMSA E-board (Co-presidents Emily Xu and Isabel Wang, Service and Conference Co-chairs Rebecca Chang and Joyce Quon, Event Planning Co-chairs Ashley Wang and Tiffany Jiang, and Treasurer Jaiveer Singh), along with Region 1 Directors Melissa Calica and Stephen Lin, Region 2 Directors KerCheng Chen, Ruby Chung, Sarah Lee, and Yue Jiao Jiang, and National APAMSA Membership VP Paul Tominez. Senior Administrative Assistant Aja Diggs, Associate Director, YSM Diversity Office Linda Jackson, and Associate Dean for Medical Student Diversity Marietta Vazquez, MD, provided important support to the planning team.