TCOM student elected to national student organization’s board
Sabri Zooper’s advocacy of the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine will be taken to the next level as the third-year osteopathic medical student was elected to the Student National Medical Association’s Board of Directors.
Zooper will serve a one-year term as the National Osteopathic Affairs Committee Co-Chairperson. The Student National Medical Association (SNMA) is the nation’s oldest and largest independent, student-run organization focused on the needs and concerns of medical students of color.
“Finding out that I was going to be the Osteopathic Affairs Chair was a dream come true,” Zooper said. “I love to represent the osteopathic principles, not only while in medical school but also when I am interacting with other students or anyone whom I may happen to meet. To represent osteopathic medicine at the national level is a great honor that I carry with pride and dignity.”
At the SNMA’s recent Annual Medical Education Conference, medical students and professionals attended a wide range of educational and networking events. It is consistently the largest gathering of under-represented minority medical students at any time of the year in any place in the nation. As Zooper begins her term, she plans to hit the ground running.
“I would like to provide more DO mentors of various specialties for osteopathic students by tapping onto our SNMA alumni as well as the National Medical Association,” Zooper said. “I want to increase connectivity for DO students throughout the 10 regions by hosting a webinar series on topics that are more specific to osteopathic medicine, such as OMM.”
Zooper intends to specialize in Obstetrics and Gynecology and would like to work within the academic side of medicine as a Professor of diversity, inclusion and equity in efforts to motivate and educate the next generation of medical professionals.
“Being a black medical student means that you are now a resource for other black and minority students to make it in through the door and advance in their academic journeys,” Zooper said. “Being here is simply a relay race where now I get to take and pass the baton. Taking on this role is one of the greatest opportunities of leadership and mentoring I have ever experienced, and I am blessed to be here.”
SNMA was founded in 1964 by medical students from Howard University College of Medicine and Meharry Medical College. With chapters across the nation, SNMA membership includes over 7,000 medical students, pre-medical students and physicians.
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