Tuesday, March 19, 2024
For the second straight year, The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth’s Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine’s Latino Medical Student Association has won the LMSA Southwest Chapter of the Year
Award. The award illuminates the student group’s hard work, volunteering and collaborating
with more than 25 different groups from February 2023 through February 2024.
“When they announced the winner, it took a while for my mind to register that they had said our school’s name,” said Brenda Godoy, a TCOM second-year student and LMSA president. “When it finally sunk in, I looked around and saw my fellow classmates’ smiling faces. Seeing their excitement brought me joy. I am honored to have served as our LMSA chapter president and extremely proud to have witnessed the executive board’s efforts in serving our community and students throughout the year, which culminated in receiving this award.”
TCOM’s LMSA executive board members for 2023-24 were led by Godoy who served as the president. Valeria Montemayor, a physician assistant studies student, was the vice president, Alan Tran was the secretary, Manav Lamichhane was the treasurer. External affairs was led by Bianca Garcia, Antonio Saavedra was the regional representative, Adrian Ballesteros was the HSC liaison and the spanish curriculum directors were Rocio Aguilar and Rebeca Bosques.
From February 2023 to January 2024, students from LMSA were engaged in activities and programs on the HSC campus and in the community. In March, they assisted HSC’s School of Public Health as they volunteered at the Healthy Smiles Event that brought oral care and vaccines to the Texas Woman’s University campus in Denton.
In April, LMSA hosted a virtual match panel and partnered with HSC’s Institute for Health Disparities for a high school outreach event to promote career paths in medicine and biomedical sciences to local minority-serving high schools in Tarrant County.
They celebrated Diversity Day, hosted the final Medical Spanish class of the semester, and celebrated Cinco De Mayo by learning about its history and importance.
In June, they helped plan and execute the second annual “Latinos En Medicina” camp for kids held at HSC and helped recruit mentors for the JAMP summer program.
As the new class of students arrived in July, they hosted an orientation social, an information session for new students to learn more about LMSA, and volunteered at the Mercy Clinic of Fort Worth, providing free medical care to those who are uninsured.
In August, they volunteered at the North Texas Wellness Fair, collaborated with the Student National Medical Association to provide free back-to-school sports physicals, and hosted their first Medical Spanish class of the semester.
September saw the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month with numerous events, including a student panel on “The Realities of Latino Immigration in the U.S.”
In October, LMSA hosted a student panel on the Advancement of Females in Medicine at the University of Texas at Arlington and partnered with the Hispanic Wellness Coalition to host the Carnival De Salud Fair to provide free health screens and services to underserved populations in DFW.
LMSA celebrated Dia de los Muertos and held a panel at Crowley ISD as they discussed with students their journey into medicine, what it means to be a DO and demonstrated osteopathic manipulative medicine.
They ended the year with a Cultural Potluck with other campus groups representing various cultural organizations.
“I am so proud of our LMSA students for receiving this terrific award for a second straight year,” said Dr. Frank Filipetto, dean of TCOM. “They have worked so hard throughout the year and continued the legacy of serving our community that the previous classes have done. I want to thank the leadership of TCOM’s LMSA and congratulate them on winning this award.”
From HSC Newsroom - Our People by Steven Bartolotta