The Student National Medical Association (SNMA) Annual Medical Education Conference (AMEC) took place in St. Louis from April 16-25, 2025. This year’s theme was “Higher: Surpassing, Optimizing, Advancing and Reimagining our Purpose.” This theme invited participants to elevate their collective purpose as they surpass expectations, optimize their resources, and reimagine the possibilities for the future. Drs. Patrick Lee and Alexander Chiu, faculty members in the Department of Surgery, and Drs. Dawda Jawara and Desmond Layne, general surgery residents, represented Wisconsin Surgery at this year’s conference.
At the conference, Drs. Lee, Chiu, Jawara, and Layne had the opportunity to interact with both pre-medical and medical students interested in surgery. They discussed the surgical programs at the UW–Madison Department of Surgery and answered questions about what it is like to train and work as a general surgeon. They also had the opportunity to connect with old friends, some of whom had trained at Wisconsin Surgery.
The Student National Medical Association is the nation’s oldest and largest organization dedicated to serving the needs of underrepresented students in medicine. The SNMA is committed to supporting current and future underrepresented minority medical students, addressing the needs of underserved communities, and increasing the number of clinically excellent, culturally competent and socially conscious physicians. The AMEC is the pinnacle event of the year, bringing together the spectrum of experience from premedical students to attending physicians across many specialties.