Welcome

Greetings Student National Medical Association,

I proudly welcome you to the Student National Medical Association. My service to the SNMA has been a privilege and I am grateful yet humbled at the opportunity to serve as your National President. Each year the SNMA celebrates great advancements from record numbers of members, to convention attendees, strong regions and high quality of programs across all levels. An empowered membership, coupled with strategic leadership and a re-commitment to our mission has developed the SNMA name and established our niche in the world of non-profit student organizations. In ascending to the position of National President, I expect that my administration will encounter some unique challenges and I am committed to maintain the excellence that has come to embody the SNMA experience.

I live by the statement that "Excellence is not an accident." Sustaining excellence and establishing endurance requires a critical analysis of why we exist and a dedication to what we stand for. The SNMA stands firm in its more than 45 years of recruiting, retaining and graduating medical students of color for the physician workforce. Mentoring at every level along the pipeline, developing leaders, serving the underserved, and stressing academic preparedness are all how SNMA has created its niche in the medical community. SNMA outreach has proved positive in getting students into the pipeline of medical school, being a support system for our members, and equipping them with tools for departure. Because of our focus and commitment to investing in our membership, our pipeline will grow to become self-renewing provided adequate resources and care. As the culture of medicine is constantly evolving, we as the SNMA commit not only to our members, but to the larger community by addressing the needs of underserved communities, and increasing the number of clinically excellent, culturally competent and socially conscious physicians. It is because of our desire for a trademark pipeline and motivation to diversify the face of medicine around us, that I draw the inspiration for my executive agenda.

The issues that the SNMA was founded to address are in many ways the same ones that we continue to address today. Currently, we face a shifting minority/majority population, a drive of medical students to more specialized fields, a fragile economy, and an unrelenting gap of health disparities in communities of color. As medical school admission practices and conditions of physician workforce change, it is imperative that our programs remain relevant to our membership and engaging to the communities that we serve. The spirit of my agenda is found in preserving our principles but exemplifying to others why the SNMA continues to be needed -- fortifying an SNMA that is Momentum through Marketing, Accountability and Assessment-driven Advocacy, Diversity is not a minority issue, and Endurance to Last – M.A.D.E. To Last.

Yours in SNMA,
Travelle Franklin-Ford
National President 2009-2010