By Megan Hale | Reporter
Baylor’s Prehealth Leadership Committee and Baylor Leaders for CHANGE will be hosting the first-ever Undergraduate Medical Leadership Conference on April 22 and 23.
Houston sophomore Ruhi Thapar said via email Leaders for CHANGE aims to empower the health care community with the skillset to cultivate meaningful change in health care.
“Leaders for CHANGE is a scholars group with the Baylor Office of Prehealth, dedicated to introducing students to medical leadership,” Thapar said. “Our strongest goals are to emphasize the practice of compassionate, innovative and equitable care.”
The theme of this conference is health care in a post-pandemic world. Health care professionals and leaders from around the nation will be in attendance. Guest speakers will discuss a variety of topics, from advancements in academic medicine to medical education, changes to global health and more.
“We believe this opportunity will be instrumental in garnering discussion on health care leadership in the ever-changing medical field and would foster a robust understanding of how pre-health students can become leaders that advance compassionate, innovative and equitable care,” Thapar said.
The conference will be split into two days with both virtual and in-person sessions. The first day of the event will be held in person in Room E206 in the Baylor Sciences Building.
Dr. Jim Walton, president and CEO of Genesis Physicians Group, will present a keynote address from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. He will be discussing health equity and the impact of COVID-19 on the health care industry. There is no cost to attend, and the event is open to Baylor students and pre-med students around the country. Students can register at this link.
Six guest speakers and health care experts will also be presenting virtually starting at 9 a.m. on April 23 via Zoom. Speakers include Dr. Umad Ahmad, the chief medical officer for Baylor Scott & White-Hillcrest; Dr. Alan Keister, the founder of Heal the City Free Clinic; Dr. Anne Jeffrey, an assistant professor of philosophy and bioethics at Baylor; and more. Students can register for this portion of the conference at this link.
“I’m excited for this event to bring well-renowned health care professionals from across the nation who were on the frontlines of the pandemic in their respective fields to Baylor,” Chicago junior and vice president of BURST Journal Clubs Sanjana Ade said via email. “The speakers have been instrumental change-makers during the pandemic, and having the opportunity to hear from the speakers about how medical leadership has changed and what changes should take place in the future is a coveted experience.”
