Waco Family Health Center teams with AMSA to offer suture workshop

By Linda Wilkins
Staff Writer

The American Medical Student Association Baylor Chapter will host a free workshop on suturing from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Baylor Sciences Building with the Waco Family Health Center.

Kingwood sophomore Sai Achi, chair of the AMSA Baylor chapter research and internship committee, helped organize the event.

She said medical residents from the Waco Family Health Center will be conducting the demonstrations on suturing at the workshop.

This is the first time the association and the Waco Family Health Center have worked together to host a clinic, Achi said.

“It is a great honor for us to have them come and lead us,” Achi said.

The event is open to everyone and those who attend will have the opportunity to practice suturing with different types of fruits, which will be provided, Achi said.

The techniques taught at the clinic will include tying knots and performing various stitches, Achi said.

While the stitches and knots for suturing may be basic, they are some of the first techniques learned in medical school, she said.

Cyprus senior Alex Baqui, the association’s Baylor chapter president, said the various workshops the organization hosts throughout the year are meant to provide students with hands-on experience taught by real medical residents.

While the suture clinic is the first of its kind hosted by the association, Baqui said the organization plans on hosting similar clinics in the future.

Baqui said the clinic will help further the association’s mission, which is to assist its members in creating holistic experiences for careers they may have in the future.

He said the association does not focus on one particular area of study in the pre-health fields.

“We give our members the highest quality experience we can offer by having real medical residents teach our members real techniques they will learn in their future professional careers,” Baqui said.

The national American Medical Student Association organization is “the oldest and largest independent association of physicians in training in the United States,” according to the association website.

The Baylor chapter has more than 500 registered members, Baqui said.

Regularly scheduled association chapter meetings are at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays in B110 BSB.