Thursday, March 4, 2010

Take Over

It's been pretty uneventful lately - lots of studying as exams are next week. :-( And then it's Spring Break! I'm going to Washington, DC to visit a couple friends there!! Pretty excited about that. :-D Not too sure what we're going to do once I'm there though . . .

Anyway, on Saturday I volunteered at the free clinic as a Patient Educator. I discussed with a friend (who took pity on me and came in to volunteer with me for - moral - support) on how horribly the Patient Education program is run. It was a great idea started by some students a couple years ago, but executed terribly. So we sat there for 4 hours with nothing to do but complain and discuss. Every now and then one of the free clinic managers (fellow classmates) came by and joined in. At the end, we had come up with an idea that could work, so I emailed the co-chair of the program (an M2). I also CC'd the email to my friend as well as 2 of the managers who were on that day. She emails me back and basically "turfs" it back to me and asks me to run for co-chair next year.

I had no intention of running for co-chair next year, but now I'm reconsidering. The program is set up so poorly that either someone has to completely revamp it or everyone just has to let it die. And now that this has been thrust upon me in a sense, I keep envisioning ways to revive it and make it better. I know what it'd take to make it work and I'm fairly good friends with a couple of the managers, so I can use that to my "advantage." Still though, the only way I'd run and take over the program is if I know I'll have a competent co-chair to lead with me.

Part of my reluctance to take over is because I want to become co-president of APAMSA (Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association) next year, as well as the president of LGBTPM (LGBT Persons in Medicine). As of right know, I'm aware of 3 people (including myself) vying for the 2 co-president positions of APAMSA. That leads to a bit of politics and intrigue, but I'm hoping that I can secure enough votes. And as for LGBTPM . . . I must say, that has to be the worst student group on campus. It's horribly organized (read: it's not organized) and it's at the point where the faculty adviser (the ID guy I shadowed) is worried if it'll still be around in coming years. I'm tempted to take it over not necessarily because I feel any sort of loyalty to that group (certainly not on the same level as I do towards APAMSA), but because I want to rise it out of its own craptastic ashes.

Anywho, where does this leave me for next year? Possibly co-chair of Patient Education (which is a part of FMSA - Family Medicine Student Association - which I'm not a member of, so I don't know how that'll all work), co-president of APAMSA, and president of LGBTPM. Hmm, I had considered running for like, secretary of PIG (Pediatrics Interest Group), but I think I'll pass on that now. :-P

As the M2's think only about the USMLE, let the take over begin . . . XD

---TANGENT---
I'd like to welcome an old blogger, BR from All Mixed Up in CA back to the blogosphere. He had stopped blogging a while back but just returned! He's a pretty casual blogger, but do go over and say hi. :-)
---END TANGENT---

7 comments:

Manu said...

wish you luck in your plans :) I'd vote for you...

lol thanks for reading my blog :)

Mike said...

Sounds like you have a lot on your plate!

naturgesetz said...

Maybe you told us in a post I missed (if so just direct me to it), but what is Patient Education supposed to do?

A question for you to ask yourself, which I hope will help you sort out what to run for, is, "What would be the reason for you to hold each of the positions you've mentioned?" How important, and in what way, is it for you to be in each of them? You've made it pretty clear that the PE program needs you to survive, and the LGBTPM is about as badly off. How important is their continued survival. You didn't say what the situation is in APAMSA that you can deal with, but whatever the motivation is, you can also weigh its importance.

dccised said...

dc is boring

savante said...

Kewl! A gay med students association :) Back in my med school days, we only had a furtive dinner where we all wondered whether the other was gay!

Aek said...

Manu: Awww, thanks! :-)

Mike: Lol, I always have a lot on my plate. :-P

naturgesetz: Patient Education is a program that is supposed to educate patients on how to manage their chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, smoking cessation, depression, weight loss, etc.

All are pretty important, imo (or can be). If you're asking about necessity, that's often a different thing altogether.

dccised: Is it? I'm sure I'll find something to do while in DC. :-P

savante: Awww, did you ever find out the answers about any of them later on?

B said...

I hope that you will have fun in DC. :) and good luck with all that campus politic life LOL