SNMA

Students at Howard and Meharry Medical Colleges, in conjunction with the National Medical Association (NMA), established the Student National Medical Association (SNMA) in 1964. The organization was formed to provide a voice and representation for all minority medical students in the medical, premedical, and allied health fields. In 1971, the SNMA became an independent and incorporated entity. SNMA is now the largest independent medical student organization focused on the needs and concerns of minority medical students. As of 2005, the SNMA represents nearly six thousand medical and premedical students of color in 142 chapters based in medical colleges and universities throughout the United States and Caribbean. SNMA’s members include African Americans, Native Americans, Latin Americans, Africans, West Indians, Asians, Middle Easterners, and Caucasians. The SNMA has professional and pre-medical members as well. All SNMA members bring a global perspective to the delivery of health care, academic medicine, professional and economic development, and other issues of concern to the organization, while serving the fraternal needs of medical students of color.

Embodied in SNMA’s constitution is our dedication to:

• Create an atmosphere wherein professional excellence and moral principles can find fullest expression
• Disseminate information relative to minority concerns in the field of medicine and medical education.
• Develop and implement workable programs for the provision of better urban and rural health care.
• Develop and implement programs for minority youth encouraging their entrance into the health professions.
• Provide national leadership in the development of legislative policies important within the minority and underrepresented community.
• Promote increases in the levels of minority student recruitment, admission, and retention in schools training health professionals.
• Protect and fight against prejudicial and culturally biased practices in all arenas.

Working primarily through its local chapters, the SNMA has piloted and continues to implement programs that directly serve or educate people about important health matters such as health professions recruitment, teenage sexuality, violence prevention, heath maintenance, sex screening, and substance abuse. Members are also involved in premedical student recruitment, community outreach, and public education. SNMA boasts over 35 years of committed service to underserved communities. It continues to advocate for improved, culturally sensitive health care services and education for the neglected and underserved.

Each year, the SNMA holds an Annual Medical Education Conference on both the national and regional levels. These conferences focus on topics of particular concern in the minority medical community.

Keeping with the national mission, the SNMA at the Edward Via Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine was established in 2003 by medical students to continue these goals in the Blacksburg, Virginia community. In our short history at VCOM, SNMA has participated in various community programs and has attended many regional and national conferences.

VCOM is a member of Region VI. This is one of ten regions of the Student National Medical Association. Region VI encompasses chapters at ten medical schools in Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Virginia. Other member schools are as follows:

• Eastern Virginia Medical School
• Georgetown University School of Medicine
• The George Washington University School of Medicine
• Howard University College of Medicine
• Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
• Virginia Commonwealth University/Medical College of Virginia
• Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
• University of Maryland at Baltimore School of Medicine
• University of Virginia School of Medicine

Please visit the SNMA National Site at snma.org