American Medical Student Association of Southwestern College

Congratulations to the new 2016-2017 officers and to our members, we wouldn't be a thing without you too. Let's make this upcoming year one of the most productive experiences!

Today's featured is Dr. Mariela Garcia, M.D., one of our keynote speakers! Mariela Isela Garcia, MD has been a family medicine physician at Kaiser Permanente in... Cudahy for the last 8 years. The community she serves is largely first and second generation immigrant and a large portion are monolingual Spanish Speakers. She completed her residency at White Memorial Medical Center in East Los Angeles. She received her Medical Degree from Charles R. Drew University/ David Geffen School of Medicine. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Chicano Studies from Pomona College in Claremont. Also our conference registration has been filled to capacity! We are very excited to meet you all on Saturday! See you at Conference!

Another great opportunity to network!

Elia Salazar, MPH is our featured speaker of the day! Elia Salazar is a native of the Southeast Los Angeles area. She received her BA from UCLA in 2011 with a ...double major in Spanish & Community & Culture and Chicana/o Studies, and completed her MPH at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health in Community Health Sciences. Elia is a Health Career Connection (HCC) alumna and a Chican@/Latin@ for Community Medicine (CCM) alumna, where she served on board as Programming Co-Director for the Latino Student Health Project (LSHP). During her time at UCLA, Elia was also involved with the UCLA Mobile Clinic Project, the UCLA Riordan Healthcare Management Fellowship Program, and was an avid volunteer at the Venice Family Clinic. Prior to entering the MPH program at UCLA, she committed to two years of service with AmeriCorps under AltaMed’s Community HealthCorps Program in East Los Angeles where she served under AltaMed Health Services’ Health Education and Obesity Prevention Departments. While at the Fielding School of Public Health, she was an executive board member for Students of Color for Public Health, alongside being involved with the school's Diversity Committee and the Strategic Planning Committee, and the Public Health Student Association. While in grad school, she also worked at the UCLA Bruin Resource Center providing administrative support with a peer-to-peer coaching and mentorship program called G.R.I.T. (Guidance. Resilience. Integrity. and Transformation.), UCLA's Center for Health Policy Research, and briefly with the California Department of Public Health. Currently, Elia is a Research Lab Manager for Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) within the Division of Hospital Medicine. Her current (research) interests include: workers' health and safety rights, peer-to-peer mentorship opportunities, family wellness initiatives, health advocacy, and social justice issues within communities of color. One of her aspirations is to return to school in the near future to obtain an EdD in Organizational Change and Leadership or a PhD within the field of education related to race, culture, ethnicity, and microagressions. Elia aims to be an advocate, ally, and role model for communities of color, but especially for her own family members, as she is the first in her family to pursue a higher education. Essentially, Elia strives to serve as a voice for those who are unable to speak up and fight for their rights.

Today's featured speaker is Medical Student, Daniel Orellana, the keynote speaker for our conference! Daniel grew up in South Gate and Downey and proceeded to a...ttend Cerritos College after high school. He later received his degree in Biological Sciences from UCI and is now a rising 3rd year at Charles Drew/UCLA Medical Education Program at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. We look forward to seeing you all at Conference THIS SATURDAY!!!

If you are interested in joining Melvin and other health professionals, we encourage you to attend the MiMentor Conference in Cerritos college where you'll meet mentors of every medical field. You do not have to be pre-med to attend. Let us know if you are interested to arrange a carpool for you.

Here's the agenda. We hope to see you there!

Good evening Jaguars! The AMSA Club will be meeting tomorrow from 12:00PM to 1:00PM at the MESA Center. If you are interested in pursing a career in medicine or health related disciplines, then you should come to know more information about your field.