SAEM’s Medical Student Ambassador Program: A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity

Each year, medical students from across the country can partake in and contribute to the SAEM Annual Meeting via the Medical Student Ambassador (MSA) Program. Operating within SAEM’s Program Committee, MSAs play an integral role in the smooth execution of the annual meeting. Students can apply for the program beginning December 1, 2021 by visiting the Medical Student Ambassador webpage.

During the meeting, MSAs help coordinate and facilitate a variety of events — didactics, poster sessions, oral presentations, etc. — in addition to promoting the meeting on social media platforms. Additionally, MSAs enjoy the benefits of MSA-only educational sessions and one-on-one mentorship with select faculty from around the country. Throughout the meeting, MSAs are actively involved in the coordination of every part of the conference. Thus, the program offers an unparalleled opportunity to learn about academic emergency medicine and become immersed into the community.

A Chance to Develop Skills

Comfort Orebayo is a fourth-year medical student at Kansas City University. Born in Lagos Nigeria, she’s currently serving

Comfort Orebayo as an executive board member on the Council of Osteopathic Student Government Presidents (COSGP), a student director on the board of the American Osteopathic Foundation as well as the program subcommittee cochair for the Student National Medical Association (SNMA) Health Policy and Legislative Affairs Committee. She will be applying to emergency medicine residency programs this fall.

“Since developing a passion for medical education while in medical school, I had been trying to figure out ways to become more involved with SAEM. I remember discovering the MSA program days after the 2019 application deadline. At the time I didn't know anything about the program, but it seemed like an amazing opportunity to connect with potential mentors and other EM-bound students. Disappointed I’d missed the deadline, I bookmarked the page knowing that one day, I would be part of what seemed like an awesome way to get involved with academic emergency medicine. So imagine my excitement getting the email that I’d been selected as an MSA for SAEM21. A month later, when Dr. Alex Huh offered me a position as a lead in the program, I was shocked and overjoyed at the opportunity to not only serve SAEM but also my fellow students.

“Being a lead MSA was a truly rewarding opportunity that I’ll forever cherish both on a personal and professional level. As a lead MSA I had the opportunity to develop my public speaking, presentation, collaboration, and networking skills. Alongside the other leads, I was able to plan social media blasts for SAEM21 as well as friendly competitions and social events in order to foster community, teamwork and comradery amongst the MSAs.

“One of my favorite aspects of being an MSA was the chance to attend the MSA “lunch and learns” and the medical student symposium, which equipped me with tools that I use daily as an auditioning fourth-year medical student and EM-bound applicant. I also enjoyed being virtually behind the scenes on some of the innovation and lightning oral sessions at SAEM21, as it gave me an opportunity to learn about the cuttingedge research, tech, procedures, and practices in medical education.”

An Opportunity to Learn From Mentors

Taylor Daniel is a fourth-year medical student at the University of Pennsylvania and will be applying to emergency

Taylor Daniel medicine residency programs this fall. She currently serves as a medical student representative on the RAMS Board and as a RAMS Board Liaison to the SAEM Education Committee. Taylor completed a bachelor’s degree in molecular biology at the University of Pennsylvania.

“I discovered the MSA Program during my third year of medical school. Newly set on pursuing a career in emergency medicine, I had just begun

to familiarize myself with the SAEM community when I stumbled upon the MSA application. I figured it would be an excellent way to throw myself into the world of emergency medicine, meet like-minded peers and mentors at all stages of training, and make my own contribution. The application was straightforward, and within a couple of months I was thrilled to join the ranks of SAEM21 MSAs.

“Before the meeting, our program directors facilitated introductions, took our requests to attend specific SAEM21 sessions, and assigned each of us a faculty mentor. In addition, we attended an initial virtual training session and a second one the day before the start of SAEM21 to reiterate and clarify our responsibilities.

“During the meeting, I was tasked with logging into my assigned sessions early to ensure speaker and facilitator attendance, monitoring the chat for questions and comments, generating discussion by posting questions for presenters, and providing feedback at daily program committee meetings. During MSA-specific sessions with program directors, residents, and EM faculty, I found it valuable to have the opportunity to ask questions and learn from those further along in their careers. Everyone I encountered was approachable, helpful, and enthusiastic about passing wisdom onto eager medical students.

“The sessions were engaging, and my involvement felt meaningful and appreciated. Above all, the opportunity to get to know the people of the EM community stands out as the greatest benefit from my time as an MSA.”

Programming Just for Medical Students

Dr. Victoria Zhou was a medical student at the University of Rochester when she served in-person as a medical student ambassador at

Victoria Zhou SAEM18. She is presently a thirdyear resident at the University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine. Dr. Zhou is a member at large of the SAEM RAMS Board.

“Attending SAEM18 in-person as an MSA was one of my first exposures to the world of academic emergency medicine. The experience of being surrounded by a diverse group of students, residents, and faculty from all around the country (and world) was very inspiring.

“There was lots of programming aimed specifically at medical students plus a residency fair where I got to chat with program leaders one-on-one. We also had multiple MSA sessions that provided an overview of the residency application process and tips and tricks.

“One of our responsibilities was to help run a variety of plenary, didactic, and research presentation sessions. I was able to listen to leaders in emergency medicine talk about their areas of expertise, which always sparked lively discussions afterwards with their audience. The level of engagement of all those attending SAEM was remarkable.”

Become a Medical Student Ambassador!

Each year, the SAEM Program Committee looks for enthusiastic and responsible medical students from around the country to work directly with SAEM leadership to assist in the planning, coordination, and execution of SAEM’s Annual Meeting. This group of medical students serves as the primary volunteer force at the SAEM Annual Meeting. Applications open December 1, 2021. For details regarding benefits and obligations (and a new diversity and inclusion scholarship!), visit the Medical Student Ambassador webpage.