| While higher education is often times looked at as an individualistic, competitive environment, for students of color, the totally competitive environment without support can be very isolating in a majority environment. The isolation can become a one-way ticket out of the institution. In medical school, it can be even worse for students of color due to the constant demands and intensive study. Although she gives the UW Medical School high marks for creating a welcoming climate, Travelle Franklin-Ford, a MD/Ph.D. student feels it is still hard to be a medical student of color. "It is hard to be a student of color in medical school, especially when there are not a lot of students of color and you have different challenges and are trying to make sure things are equitable and diverse," Franklin-Ford said. "I think Wisconsin does a good job of trying to create a holistic atmosphere. But our diversity is different than other regions. We have to do different things to bring diversity in and make sure we include everyone." In 1964, students at Howard University School of Medicine and Meharry Medical College formed the Student National Medical Association (SNMA) to improve the success rates that students of color had in medical school and beyond. It now boasts over 6,500 members at medical schools form coast to coast. In addition to Franklin-Ford pursuing her medical degree, she is also the Region 2 director for SNMA. And if that weren't enough work, she was also the conference chair for SNMA's Region 2 conference held at the UW Medical School October 19-21. Over 100 medical students of color from the region attended to improve their skill sets, find out about opportunities in the field and develop important relationships that will help carry them through their medical school career and beyond. One of the most important programs that SNMA offers, according to Rory Goodwin, an MD/Ph.D. candidate at Johns Hopkins University and SNMA president, is mentoring for students of color. "We have a longitudinal mentorship going all the way from medical school residency down to elementary school," Goodwin said. "If you looked at some of the studies, having a mentor really increases your chances of being successful in whatever profession that you do. So the SNMA is trying to foster those relationships so that way, every one has a mentor." And the support even extends from the physicians of color community. "We get lots of support from the Cook County Physicians Association," Franklin-Ford said. "Mound City Medical Society, which comes out of St. Louis, is another. The NMA region 4 actually gave us a lot of money to put on our conference this year." Brooke Mobley, a DO/MBA candidate at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and SNMA chair, is also very high on the SNMA's mentoring program. "A lot of times in our community, we fail to realize that the structure and the foundation that you need to make you a competitive candidate for medical school and then a competitive resident and fellow starts in the basics," Mobley said. "Sometimes we lack strategy and study skills in the African American and minority communities. We foster programs that start in the elementary schools. We then follow them up to high school. We then look at and prepare our pre-medical students in college and in untraditional Master's programs to make them more competitive candidates. And then we help make medical students more competitive so that we can be physicians, residents and fellows because while it is difficult to get into medical school as minority medical students, it's even more difficult to remain there. And while our numbers are increasing, African American and minority medical students, we're still having a difficult time in retention and keeping them there." The support structure is important, in Mobley's view, because there are few professors of color in the medical schools and sometimes a person needs another person in similar circumstances to understand what one is going through. "Rory Goodwin has become a brother to me and Travelle Franklin-Ford has become a sister to me," Mobley said. "And while we are all over the country, we have a place where we meet and talk about medical school and how frustrating it is. We are family and friends in an organization that doesn't only want to make physicians. We want to make a community better." |
| Student National Medical Association Region II Conference A structure of support By Jonathan Gramling |
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| Brooke Mobley (l-r), chair of the Student National Medical Association, C. Rory Goodwin, SNMA's president and Travelle Franklin-Ford, SNMA's Region 2 director |