SNMA UCLA/CDU Chapter

Hello everyone!

We hope that you have been having a great summer!! SNMA is excited to announce our newest initiative called SNMA Squad. We created SNMA Squad to foster and facilitate community among Black medical students regardless of the program (Geffen, PRIME, Drew, MSTP). Squads will be composed of 4-6 medical students of different classes with a special focus on upper-class students providing mentorship for incoming MS1 students.

We are currently recruiting current upper-class students as mentors and we hope that you join us as we launch this exciting initiative. Please fill out the Google form by Sunday, August 8th. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions. Thank you so much!

Link to form:

SNMA SQUAD - Upperclass Mentors Please complete this form by Sunday August 8, 2021. Thank you!

To our DGSOM Community,

On March 16th, 2021, it was with a heavy heart that we, once again, witnessed reprehensible acts of violence against our Asian community in America. While the acts observed that day in Atlanta were singularly disturbing, it is important to remember that they were not isolated incidents but rather part of a greater anti-Asian rhetoric pattern. These acts represent a physical manifestation of the history of anti-Asian hate rooted in xenophobia, misogyny, and racism. Racial injustices and discrimination continue to persist within our society on individual, institutional, and systemic levels.

No one should experience discrimination, inequity, or have to fear for their lives because of their racial or ethnic background. Our Asian family has faced all of the above in this nation’s history. Additionally, we have seen a rise of violence that coincides with the increase in egregious xenophobic rhetoric that falsely attempts to attribute the COVID-19 pandemic to Asian communities.

It is with love and solidarity that we stand in support of the AAPI community. We hope to uplift their voices and offer our comforts at this challenging time.

We firmly denounce all forms of racism and hatred. In the months and years to come, SNMA is committed to working alongside APAMSA to promote allyship between our Black and AAPI communities. We strongly value fostering opportunities to create spaces where we emphasize unity, collaboration, and collective consciousness.

To our fellow DGSOM students, please continue to support yourselves as best you can. We have endured and will continue to endure until we can know justice and peace. Please feel free to reach out to us via email or social media with any questions or concerns.

With love,

2021 DGSOM/CDU SNMA Executive Board

Our Annual Women's Empowerment Brunch is taking place this weekend! Please RSVP to attend! Looking forward to seeing you there!

Greetings UCLA/Drew SNMA Fam!
We are excited to invite you to our first event of the school year! Our All-Student Welcome event is aimed to inform you about who we are, what we do, and, most importantly, get to know you as well! All event information and the link to RSVP can be found below. When: Friday, August 14th, 5-6 PM
RSVP: https://forms.gle/u5bhhBgLoBDBCwgz8

We hope to "see" you there!!
All the best,
SNMA Board 2020-2021

Now is the time to rally around one of our own! Please consider donating to Micheal's GoFundMe or take the time to share this across your own network if you haven't done so already. Our communities need compassionate, humble, intelligent, and driven clinicians like him.

Help Micheal Finish Medical School organized by Micheal Thomas My name is Micheal Thomas, I am a 4th year medica… Micheal Thomas needs your support for Help Micheal Finish Medical School

Saturday, June 6th 2020

We will be hosting our first Safe Spaces event this Wednesday, June 3rd at 6:30PM. We encourage you to share this with your fellow black DGSOM students and residents. It will be a time of reflection and healing for us all and we encourage you to join us.

To frame our discussion we ask you to ponder the question “What does healing and change look like for you going forward as a medical community at UCLA?”

Please RSVP here: https://forms.gle/VCsKwfp5x2nvkKPQ7

Hello SNMA Family,

We know many of you have joined our nation in a time of collective mourning after the news from earlier this week. We also recognize that many have been struggling to comprehend everything that is going on around us in a time like this. A time where we witnessed the murder of Ahmaud Arbery in what brought back memories of Trayvon Martin. A time where we read about the murder of Breonna Taylor in her own home at the hands of the police like Atatiana Jefferson less than a year prior. And a time where we all watched the murder of George Floyd in a video that reminded us of the painful final words of Eric Garner: I. Can’t. Breathe.

We are all struggling to catch our own breaths as we are reminded just how far our nation still has to go to acknowledge that Black Lives, Black Communities, Black Representation, Black Health, and Black Goals are immensely important. We are all so frustrated seeing the same events repeated and the same overt lack of justice in a system that was never designed to provide justice for people that look like many of us. We know how tiring it must be to feel like the protests we participated in nearly a decade ago, the years we have spent educating others, and the efforts we have made to pursue careers that allow us to advocate for communities of color were all wasted. But please don’t be discouraged. Be reminded that “the arc of the moral universe is long and it bends towards justice” but don’t forget that it never has and never will bend by itself. Your efforts, tears, and words are never wasted. And as you see the protests all around us, also be reminded that “you can’t separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom".

While we all take time to reflect in the coming weeks we want to remind you that there is no correct way to mourn. Anger, deep sadness, and even silence as you struggle to process your own emotions and thoughts, are all proper ways to mourn. The only improper way is in isolation. With that said, UCLA/Drew SNMA will be offering Safe Spaces for all of our members to come together and share how they have been coping. The first one will be this coming week and we hope to have more throughout the summer. There is power when voices and bodies come together to encourage and support one another.

We are thinking about all of you and we send so much love to everyone spread across the country.

With Love,

Your SNMA E-Board

The Women’s Empowerment Brunch this past fall featured an extraordinary panel of clinicians from the Association of Black Women Physicians. The event allowed for discussions that fostered support and professional growth to all the current and future doctors.

Earlier this fall SNMA’s UCLA/CDU Chapter was represented at the Regional Medical Education Conference hosted by the University of Arizona’s College of Medicine.

We would like to thank Dr. Gail Wyatt and Dr. Lewis Wyatt for hosting SNMA’a annual Rap and Snack mixer!

Join us on Saturday, 9/14 at 10 am for the Third Annual Women’s Empowerment Brunch! Email [email protected] for more info.