Stanford med students Nuriel Moghavem and Trishna Narula co-chaired an AMA Medical Student Section Regional 1 conference last weekend at the Li Ka Shing Center for Learning and Knowledge. Ninety students, including 40 from Stanford, participated in the two-day event, which involved meetings, breakout sessions with industry leaders and social outings, plus an optional trip to a local winery the following day. Moghavem shared his thoughts on the weekend's proceedings in the Q&A that follows.
How did you decide to focus on healthcare technology innovation?
When we were putting together the proposal, we thought a lot about what makes Stanford different from other schools that might host this conference, and how we could add educational and inspirational value to the trips of students coming from other states. Stanford obviously has many things that set it apart, but we thought that the energy of the health tech field would really capture the imaginations of our attendees.
What were some key takeaways from the sessions?
Our keynote speaker was Atul Butte, MD, PhD, a giant in the field of big data analytics and [someone who is] incredibly knowledgeable about the process of bringing a medical discovery to the market. Everyone in that room was rapt and half probably left wondering why we all weren't millionaires already. We then had some breakout sessions from telemedicine and technology startups that again pushed our attendees' understanding about the future of medicine. I think the main takeaways were that technology is changing health care, and the "visibility" – if you think about it like driving a car in the fog – probably isn't more than two to three years ahead. Technology has the promise to entirely overturn our idea of how health is fundamentally defined and approached in ways that we simply can't anticipate at this time. It's big stuff.
What took place at the AMA Leadership School Workshop?
The Leadership School is a national initiative to put tools in the hands of emerging leaders to empower them to expand their efforts. The workshop they led during our conference was an excellent morning icebreaker - asking attendees to share media related to their own personal "brand" (a favorite image, a Google search of themselves, etc.). Through the exercise, we all shared interesting personal details about our lives, interests, passions and hobbies, and we learned a valuable lesson in controlling one's brand and online presence.
You are a busy medical student. Why do you feel it's important to participate in leadership opportunities in your field?
As medicine becomes increasingly driven by public policy, it's important that we cultivate a generation of leaders in medicine with the tools to engage in policy. This conference was, for us, an opportunity to get 70 of the brightest future physicians in our region (which spans from Hawaii to South Dakota!) in one room to discuss that very issue and to develop those skills. We don't just think it's important for emerging physician leaders to participate in policy matters, we think it's critical for the future well-being of our community and perhaps our country for them to do so.
Co-organizer Trishna Narula later shared with me, "while this was a great opportunity for the AMA to benefit from the health technology hub at Stanford, it was also another large step for Stanford Med to push to the forefront of health policy and advocacy."
Previously: Top 10 reasons I’m glad to be in medical school, Future doctors have a lot at stake, even if they don’t know it: A student’s take on the Affordable Care Act and Stanford Medicine X seeking students for leadership program
Photo by James Pan
