2020 TCEP Board of Directors Nominee
1. Please provide us with your Medical School and graduation date. Also include your current positions held with a brief description of your duties. I will be graduating from the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine in May 2022. My current positions include: • President of the American Medical Women’s Association for which I was responsible for 1) implementing a mentorship program between female physicians and female medical students, 2) hosting and planning for regular meetings that included discussions on improving the number of females in medicine, leadership opportunities for women in the medical field, and overall awareness of the importance of mental health while in medical school, and 3) collaborating with student organizations for community outreach and health education. • Vice President of the Emergency Medicine Interest Group for which I was responsible for 1) coordinating shadowing between interested medical students and Emergency Medicine physicians at the University Medical Center Emergency Department, 2) acting as committee chair and organizing the Lubbock Chapter of National Two Step CPR, 3) planning for monthly meetings and contacting various speakers for those meetings. • Dean’s Ambassador for the School of Medicine Office of Admissions for which I was responsible for 1) Giving tours and helping in every aspect of the medical school interview days during the fall semesters, 2) helping with local recruitment events at community schools and the Texas Tech University undergraduate campus, and 3) speaking on student panels about my experiences getting into medical school and my experiences while in medical school as well. 2. Tell us about your involvement in TCEP. My involvement in TCEP and ACEP includes, up until this point, TCEP CONNECT 2019 and the monthly TCEP phone calls. I had the opportunity to attend the medical student programming in Austin last year and hear from Texas program directors about their individual EM programs and how to be successful in applying for EM. The conference really solidified my initial interest in EM and was the reason I would like to become much more involved in TCEP. I have also had the opportunity to sit in on a few of the TCEP monthly phone calls and learn more about current events within EM through those. I only recently joined ACEP and have not yet had the opportunity to attend a conference, but I plan on attending TCEP CONNECT 2020 and hopefully participating in the SonoWars there as well. 3. Convey to us your goals as a Director and what you see as the pressing issues facing Emergency Physicians in the next three years. One of my biggest goals as a Director is to try to increase the number of medical student memberships in both TCEP and ACEP. I’ve seen many incoming first year students in the same position that I was a little over a year ago: interested in EM but having no idea where to start or how to showcase and fully immerse themselves in that passion. Many especially don’t know how to become more involved in EM advocacy agencies or how to take advantage of the opportunities they have to offer, not only through policy but through networking too. I wasn't even really sure how to become a member of ACEP or EMRA until this past fall when our school’s TCEP Student Liaison sat me down and explained it all in full. I think that it is important to encourage medical students to get involved with TCEP and ACEP earlier on because by increasing the number of medical students that are part of the organization, this will later on result in an increased number of residents and then further attendings that are not only members, but heavily involved as well. Another goal I have is to really expand TCEP’s social media presence as a way to further reach out to, as well as inform, medical students about the current events going on in regards to Texas Emergency Medicine. Two pressing issues I see facing Emergency Medicine Physicians in the next three years include the increasing rates of sex trafficking victims that come through the ED and changes in federal healthcare funding. I had the opportunity to take an elective at my school titled “Understanding the Complexities of Sex Trafficking” and one of our lectures focused on the efforts taking place in our hospital’s ED to try to identify and help sex trafficking victims that come through, without endangering the victims. Because sex trafficking victims are less likely to be seen by a primary care physician or to receive any form of healthcare until absolutely necessary, it’s usually Emergency Physicians who interact with the victims first. For that reason, I think it has become and will continue to be imperative that EM Physicians learn how to identify possible victims and to also have a protocol in place for alerting authorities and getting the victims out of the system, without letting procurers become aware of their intent. Another issue I believe EM Physicians will have to face are changes in federal healthcare funding. Many times, lower income or elderly patients who come through the ER without insurance do so because they are unable to be seen by a PCP or rather cannot afford to do so, but still have health care needs. Those individuals that then receive federal aid have the ability to be seen by a primary care physician and receive their medications, and in that way are able to stay out of the ER. A pressing issue EM physicians might face if there are possible cuts in federal funding to Medicare and Medicaid programs is that many of those patients would return to the ER in deteriorated conditions from their chronic diseases, which could have been avoided with proper longitudinal care. This redirects time and resources that EM physicians spend away from emergent cases and also places an incredible financial burden on these already struggling patients. 4. Please provide a brief description of family, community and professional activities, and hobbies. I’m very fortunate that I have gotten to attend college and medical school close to my family because they have always been my biggest support system. My father is the chair of the Chemistry Department at Texas Tech University and my mother is working on her Ph.D. in History. My younger sister will be graduating from high school this year and has decided to attend Texas Tech as well. Our whole family enjoys trying different ethnic food in town every weekend and going on road trips (to try new food in those towns too). My community activities mostly involve volunteering at the Free Clinic every Wednesday evening. I absolutely love helping out there because not only do I learn a lot from the older medical students I work with, but I also really enjoy helping the patients I see and getting to follow up with them each week. My hobbies include running, crafting on cork boards, and watching old movies and attending movie parties at the Alamo Drafthouse. |
