Woodstock. Lollapalooza. PremedFest?
March 10, 2015
Taking a cue from art and music festivals, writers’ retreats and other similar gatherings, the American Medical Student Association has created a national event exclusively for premedical and pre-health students. AMSA PremedFest will be a celebration of the unique and shared experiences of students on their journeys into the health and healthcare professions.
The association strongly believes that the necessary changes in the culture of medicine – supporting compassionate care, patient-centered interprofessionalism and holistic wellness for patients and care providers alike – must start by changing the culture of medical and premedical students and their developmental environments. AMSA feels that future physicians have been trained in environments focused more on competition, hierarchy and individual success than on collaboration, compassionate care and holistic wellness.
AMSA’s PremedFest will be held April 11 and 12 at the University of Florida. Attendees will be invited to participate as co-creators of meaning; community, compassion and care as they explore and discover the joy in caring; the deep motivations for pursuing medicine; the necessity of empathic listening and compassionate communication; the sacred trust between society and the medical professions and the generative capacity of narrative and arts in medicine.
The AMSA is pleased to be working with the following individuals and leading organizations in the development of the festival:
- Dr. Patch Adams and the Gesundheit Institute
- Susan Parenti and the School for Designing a Society
- Rebekah Apple from the American Association for Physician Leadership
- Bobbi Knickerbocker at the UF Academic Advising Center
- Gina Moses and the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine
- River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding
- National Physicians Alliance
For more information or to register, please visit www.AMSAPremedFest.org. Early Bird Registration ends March 15.
AMSA PremedFest, in partnership with Kaplan Test Prep, is hosted by the University of Florida AMSA Premedical Chapter and the University of Florida Academic Advising Center in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, with Academic Sponsorship by the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine.