“Membership benefits” by Dionne C. Okafor MSII: University of Pittsburgh School
of Medicine
Networking benefits:
Mentorship opportunities
with ANPA member, that entails making sure that DNPT member, are able to
access ANPA members close to the area.
Making local and
hopefully regional DNPT chapters so there is more networking
opportunities amongst DNPT members besides the national conference and
provides a way for DNPT member to have some ownership and responsibility
for the progression of the organization
Mission
Trip benefits:
Increase opportunities
for medical students to do mission trips to Nigeria. Find a way to implement
policies established by UCLA and Duke
and spread them throughout multiple medical
schools have similar opportunities.
Also with increased
networking maybe DNPT members can have opportunities to go on mission
trips with ANPA physicians who are doing their own projects. That will
be especially beneficial if there is no opportunity to set up a program
in a DNPT member's medical school.
General
benefits
For joining the
organization DNPT member (like many medical students) will benefit from
something in exchange. Like a deal on a medical
school book, medical supplies etc. When school starts, first years are persuaded to join multiple
organizations and a tool that many organizations use are gifts similar
to those mentioned so it won't be a bad idea to try to have some sort of
special as well
Leadership
opportunities
Monthly
literature/newsletter about ANPA/DNPT either via email or regular mail
so members stay in touch with what is going on with the organization and
new opportunities.
Since national DNPT
meetings are in association with the ANPA national meetings. Member will
benefit from a SNMA-style conference where there are multiple workshops
about medical school success, physical
exam skills workshops done by ANPA member who frequent Nigeria to do
missions (an opportunity to gain additional skills we may not acquire in
medical school. Especially because, in America physicians tend to
diagnose more based on lab test/imaging and less based on physical exam
where as other countries, such as areas in Nigeria, with less resources,
physicians have tremendous physical exam skills because they truly rely
on that skill), career building workshops, panel discussions etc. DNPT members expressed great interest in
having the ANPA members play an integral role in the DNPT part of the
conference.
FYI: These contributions were made by first time attendees.
"What can we do for Nigeria as U.S. trained Physicians?” by Opemipo O.
Johnson
MSIV: Duke University School of Medicine
Start small, perform
small health improving projects in small communities (focused on
prevention, education and providing primary care). If successful, these
models can be used to inform government officials on how to expand
quality healthcare to the nation
Educate the masses on
how to improve their health, common sign and symptoms of diseases that
are prevalent in Nigeria
Start a united Nigerian
medical professional organization that will work alongside with the
government to help guide future healthcare policies
Nigeria needs to use a
country with similar resources (Cuba) as an example for which they can
attempt to create healthcare policies rather than a developed nation
such as the U.S. and UK
The government must be
included, in order to strengthen the healthcare infrastructure and to
create sustainable interventions.
Collaborate and
communicate when planning mission trips to enhance efficacy and improve
the utility of these services to our people.
“Longevity of DNPT”
by Ujuka Obi-Eyisi
MSIII: Mount Sinai School of
Medicine
This group discussed possible ways to ensure
that DNPT continues to grow and stay true to its roots. The major issue
we face is member recruitment. Many students complained about DNPT's
invisibility even with the website and Facebook page. Some students also
did not receive the recruitment letter sent out last fall via Medical
School Diversity Affairs offices.
To continue increasing membership, we will
continue with the current reach out methods we have. The recruitment
letters will be sent out again to inform incoming first year students
about DNPT's existence. Our facebook page and the website especially
will be updated regularly. Everyone agreed that the website could be
improved using brighter colors and a more user-friendly layout.
In addition, the suggestion to institute the DNPT Ambassador Program was
made. With this program, we empower current members to become DNPT
spoke-persons at their respective institutions. A DNPT ambassador will
be responsible for keeping the Nigerian community of medical students at
their campus informed of DNPT's events, projects and programs. There
will be 1-2 ambassadors per school. At this point, any enthusiastic
registered member can become a DNPT ambassador. There will be perks for
ambassadors but these details will be worked out in due time. This
program holds much promise as it will not only help with increasing
membership but also with disseminating information and keeping members
excited about DNPT.
