VTC Chapter Student National Medical Association

Leadership
Student Leadership
Alexander In
Hong Ye
Faculty Mentor
Dr. Michael Bergen
Dr. Angelica Witcher
Note: contact information for student leaders and faculty mentors is available for current students only.
Group contact info
Email: vtcmeddocs@gmail.com
The Student National Medical Association (SNMA) is committed to supporting current and future underrepresented minority medical students, addressing the needs of underserved communities and increasing the number of clinically excellent and culturally competent and socially conscious physicians.
We intend to achieve this goal through:
- Advocacy: serving as a credible and accurate source of information and activism relevant to minority issues
- Representation: Increasing the presence of minority mentors in research and medicine and fostering development of future minority leaders in these fields
- Volunteerism: Serving the needs of underserved communities and communities of color

MedDOCs = Medical Discovery of Careers
Sponsored by the VTC chapter of the Student National Medical Association and the VTC Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, MedDOCs is a student-run after school pipeline program for Roanoke area high school students from backgrounds under-represented in medicine with the goal of providing high-school students with mentorship and exciting them about pursuing education/careers in science and medicine.
The topic of focus for the Spring 2022 block is neurology. Students will:
- Meet Carilion Clinic doctors
- Learn about brain anatomy, diseases, and imaging
- Dissect an animal brain
- Tour neuroscience research labs
- Participate in a stroke rescue simulation
- Connect with VTC medical students
- Meet other high school students from the greater Roanoke region
More information about MedDOCs
- Started at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in NYC ~20 years ago as a pipeline program
- Med student-run after school program for high school students from backgrounds underrepresented in medicine
- Goal is to provide the students with mentorship and excite them about pursuing education and careers in science and medicine.
- Weekly after school program (e.g. Thursdays evenings) run in 8 week blocks
- 2 medical student mentors per group of 5-10 high school students
Contacts for MedDOCs
- LB Canary: lbcanary@vt.edu
- Steven Dvorak: stephendvorak@vt.edu