Drexel Med Guac Competition 2012

Come join the Drexel Latino Medical Student Association for our annual ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT NACHO DINNER and BOTTOMLESS SANGRIA on Thursday, March 29 at 5 pm in SAC B. Only $5 for unlimited dinner and homemade sangria. $3 if you submit guacamole to compete in the GUAC OFF COMPETITION (win $25 Amazon gift card!)

Complete nacho buffet dinner includes holy guacamole, spirited beef-and-bean chili, hot nacho cheese, fiery (and mild) salsa, heavenly sour cream, forbidden gourmet cookies, and, of course, good ole nacho chips!

Guac competition details:
1. The guac competition is open to all Drexel students.

2. Submit your best guac bowl (10 oz.) on Thursday March 29 5:00 pm Queen lane campus SAC B.

3. The competition will be judged by the Drexel Med Culinary Club.

4. Judges will award points based on overall flavor, presentation, and originality.

5. The competitor with the most points wins a $25 gift card to Amazon.com

All proceeds from the event will go to the LMSA Edison High School tutoring program and LMSA community outreach program. To learn more about our tutoring and community programs email us at: DUCOM.LMSA@gmail.com

Latino Heritage Month

On Thursday September 29^th the DUCOM LMSA Chapter held the Annual Latino Heritage Month Lecture and Dinner showcasing a documentary on Chagas Disease. Carla Zeballos, 3^rd year Medical Sudent at DUCOM and 2010-11 LMSA Co-president, introduced the film, sharing her experiences with Chagas through her summer volunteer work in Bolivia. Victor Cueto, 4^th year Medical Student at DUCOM, LMSA National Board Parliamentarian and LMSA National Liaison to the regional board, gave an introduction to the LMSA Organization, highlighting the various activities the organization has been involved with.

The event was a huge success and enhanced awareness over a prevalent endemic disease associated with poverty in many Latin American Countries. It is estimated that 15-16 million people in Latin America are infected with the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi that causes Chagas disease.

We would like to thank restaurants Mexican Post, Chipotle, and Machismo’s for sponsoring and supporting our event.

We would also like to thank Deacon Lile and Priscilla Ku, for organizing a great event.

...a changing of the guard...

It's been a year already since some of us started our roles in LMSA. We've been a very productive student group, I feel. These are a list of our accomplishments this year:

• We continued our successful high school tutoring program at ASPIRA
• We added tutoring for younger kids this year as well
• We hosted high schoolers who came to visit Drexel Med and we gave them some, hopefully useful, tips for college and beyond.
• Our members attended 2 conferences this year
• DUCOM LMSA is officially the BEST LMSA student group in the Northeastern Region
• Carla won an Outstanding Community Service award
• Micah, Claudia and Victor were elected to the LMSA National Board

Yesterday, we handed over responsibility for continuing our great club to the rising 2nd years. Congratulations to the new officers:

• Co-President – Max Oran
• Co-President – Charlie Trujillo
• Treasurer – Kiran Guthikonda
• Secretary – Madie Ramirez
• Membership /Alumni Chair – Isabel Eisner
• Community Outreach Coordinator – Evan Smith
• Spanish Table Coordinator – Dante Marconi

There's a lot to look forward to as we head into the 2011-2012 school year and we welcome the class of 2015. Some things we'll be working on next year include:

• Bringing back a Medical Spanish Class, possibly culminating in a CEAC standardize patient session at the end of the course
• Attracting more Latino medical school applicants by attacking the problem from three fronts,

1. an LMSA member in the admissions committee
2. LMSA presence at college recruitment fairs
3. establishing a broader internet presence for the LMSA blog/website so that applicants can easily find Drexel LMSA and read about our many exploits and how awesome we are!

Of course none of this could have been done without the work of our two Co-presidents, Katie and Carla and the contribution of our excellent members. To cap off the meeting, we had a cake and a picture:

Good work LMSA!

LMSA @Drexel Med wins LMSA Northeast Chapter of the Year!

This past week Mica and Victor represented DUCOM-LMSA at the National Conference at Mount Sinai. As you all know, we applied for a few scholarships/awards that were announced at the conference. We're proud to announce, we were recognized as LMSA-Northeast Chapter of the Year, from among many other prestigious institutes of medical education in the Northeastern United States. In addition, for her volunteer service work in the Philadelphia area Latino community, Carla Zeballos was awarded the 14th Annual Dr. Jaime H. Rivera-Velez Award for Outstanding Community Service!

Congratulations and keep up the great work DUCOM LMSA!

LMSA gives ASPIRA students the DUCOM grand tour

LMSA had the opportunity to host some ASPIRA middle and high school students today. There were about 8 students who came and we gave them a tour of our medical school campus, including a brief anatomy lecture by our resident Gross Anatomy Med Scholar Scott Caganap.

I think we got as much out of this experience as the students did. They asked a lot of questions about getting into schools and we shared hindsight about opportunities that we undertook during our undergrad years. I learned a little more the lives of the kids we spend Monday's/Tuesday's tutoring at ASPIRA.

On to the pics:

Latino Heritage Month Guest Speaker Event

September 15 thru October 15 is Latino Heritage Month. It is a month where we recognize the contributions of Hispanic Americans to society and celebrate the Hispanic heritage and culture. DUCOM LMSA celebrated with food and having 2 guest speakers, Dr Ana Nunez and Dr Eugene Santillano come and speak to us about their experiences in Latino American health. Dr Nunez is renowned for her Women's Health lectures at Drexel Med and Dr Santillano is a graduate of the class of 2003, he now practices in Family Medicine in Norristown.

Dinner was provided by members of LMSA as well as donations from Mexican Post and Tequila's Restaurant and Bar. It was a welcome break from a long day of school, studying and tutoring! The food was of course delicious, special consideration to whoever brought/made the tiramisu (Latino it ain't but delectable it sure is).

The talk by Dr Nunez was enlightening as always. She spoke about disparities in health care for Latinos in the US and the tasks that lie before us as future physicians. Dr Santillano spoke in depth about change and the people and events that influence those changes reflected in stories in his life leading up to becoming a Family Practitioner in the Philadelphia area.









--Henry

LMSA/ASPIRA 1st Tutoring Session of the year

Today was the 1st tutoring session for LMSA in the new school year. We've tutored in the past at a different school but what's changed this year is ASPIRA has more funding. There are now professional teachers and instructors and the entire program is more structured and organized. The school is located in North Philly near St Christopher's Hospital.


It was also the 1st day of the program for ASPIRA so to kick things off, the teachers put on a show called "ASPIRA's Got Talent" where various teachers performed acts and were voted on by judges, just like the real show on TV. It was a hit with the kids and medical students too.


After the opening act, the kids broke up into groups and got an orientation to the classes they would be participating in. I joined the Scrabble/Chess class and we did some ice breakers and introductions which was pretty fun and the teachers seemed very enthusiastic to be there. We didn't get to tutor but some of us did interact with the kids. Let me tell ya, those kids are great, I can tell it's going to be a fun year spending time and building relationships with them.



--Henry