Trainee spotlight: Dixon on attending SNMA and serving as a mentor

Brittany Dixon, MD, an intern in Duke’s Internal Medicine Residency Program, represented Duke at the Student National Medical Association’s annual conference April 17-19 in Washington D.C. Learn about her experience talking with pre-medical and medical students about Duke and serving as a mentor: Q. Why did you decide to represent Duke at the SNMA annual conference? The Student National Medical Association (SNMA) was founded in 1964 by medical students from Howard University and Meharry medical schools. Its mission is to promote and increase the number of underrepresented minority physicians and to address the needs of underserved communities. I learned about this organization as a first-year medical student and was involved while in medical school. When I heard about the annual conference, during which chapters around the country gather to network and help implement SNMA’s mission, I knew I wanted to attend and share information about medical programs at Duke. Q. What was it like to represent Duke at the conference? There is an exhibit each year at the conference where residency programs and medical schools are available to answer questions and provide information. We spoke to 116 pre-medical and medical students and shared information about different medical residencies and programs at Duke. Q. The conference also has a focus on mentoring and networking. Did you have opportunities to offer students advice? I had conversations and exchanged email addresses with students who were interested in Duke. Even if I could not answer their questions directly, I provided contact information for people I knew who could. For instance, there was a pre-medical student who was really interested in neuroscience but did not have great mentorship at her institution. I’m not in neuroscience, but I connected her with a neurosurgery resident at Duke who could provide some mentorship. To think that I may have helped a future Duke medical student or resident is really nice. I also had opportunities to network. SNMA is primarily student-run, but there is a governing board of residents, fellows and attending physicians who attended the conference. I am interested in cardiology, and I met the president of the Association of Black Cardiologists while I was at the conference. It was a mentoring opportunity for me as well. Q. You used vacation time to attend the conference and represent Duke. Why was this event so important to you? One of my passions is to address underserved populations, and I also have experience serving as a mentor when I was an undergraduate student. One of my jobs in college was to meet with several freshmen on a regular basis. Through that experience, I realized the importance of mentorship, and I would like to continue with similar activities as I move forward in my career. That’s why I decided to attend SNMA. Thinking of the students, I recognize that I was in their shoes at one point. I wanted to return the favor of those who had done that for me when I was at that stage. Dr. Dixon attended Harvard Medical School and is interested in cardiology and working with underserved patients. She hopes to attend the SNMA annual conference again. Read her profile here.