Several North Carolina Medical Society (NCMS) staff members have been hard at work the past few months recruiting first year medical students from local medical schools as members of the NCMS. Will Barnett, Assistant Director of Legislative and Political Action, Varsha Gadani, Assistant General Counsel, and Charis Kirk, Member Resource Center Coordinator, have been visiting the Brody, Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill and Wake Forest schools of medicine and working with the American Medical Association (AMA) chapter leaders at each school to encourage first-year medical students to join not only the NCMS and AMA, but also the relevant county medical societies.

“Working with medical students to engage their peers in organized medicine has been very rewarding,” says Barnett. “Having conversations about their experiences has given me a fresh perspective on what it takes to succeed in medical school and how the NCMS can help. We have benefits that students can use immediately, and their increased involvement will add value to the organization as a whole.”

Emily Deese, NCMS Director of Member Services, adds that “serving the needs of medical students,” is a priority.

Dr. Sangvai addresses Duke's first-year medical students

NCMS president-elect Dev Sangvai, MD, spoke with Duke students about the importance of becoming involved.  Dean of the Brody School of Medicine and NCMS Board member Paul Cunningham, MD, along with NCMS Secretary Treasurer Timothy Reeder, MD, shared their enthusiasm for NCMS with the Brody students. At Wake Forest, Russell Howerton, MD spoke on the importance of having a voice in the profession of medicine.  Thanks to our physician leaders for making these events meaningful to the students.

The student leaders at each school also helped make the meetings successful. Duke:  Ben Streufert, Juliana Gao and Godefroy Chery. UNC:  Megan Williams and Ben Thompson. Brody:  Nathan McLamb and Xion Ko. Wake Forest:  Kishan Patel and Sij Hemal.

To learn more about the student recruiting initiative, click here.