Tulane to host Southern Medical Association Physicians-in-Training Conference

Medical students and residents will gather in New Orleans this weekend for the Southern Medical Association’s 2nd Annual Physicians-In-Training Leadership Conference. The event is being held at Tulane University School of Medicine, and trainees from around the country will have the chance to collaborate and converse about research and ideas.

The SMA Physicians-in-Training Committee provides a forum to plan and design new educational activities with a focus on interdisciplinary networking and spreading best practices among sixteen regional states and the District of Columbia to improve patient care. The Committee also works to support the future of medical education in the south.

Fourth-year Tulane medical student Natalie Weiss serves on the SMA Board of Directors as Chair of the Physicians-In-Training Committee. Weiss says conference attendees will hear from healthcare leaders including American Medical Association President Gerald Harmon, MD, past and present SMA presidents and Tulane Department of Surgery Chair Mary Killackey, MD, among others. The weekend also includes poster and oral presentations from medical students and residents.

“Presenters are sharing their research on everything from various medical topics, public health, ethics, surgical subspecialties and more,” said Weiss. “We accept posters and presentations from all kinds of different schools nationally, so this is an opportunity to network with one another and share those kind of cross-specialty interdisciplinary findings that you might not otherwise get from a conference that focuses on one specialty.”

Organizers are testing out a hybrid model for the conference this year. Some attendees will be onsite while the conference is also available virtually. Registration is still open for those who’d like to attend.

“I think it’s important for our school to promote innovation and networking among its physicians-in-training,” said Weiss. “Hosting this conference is a good way to show that Tulane is a leader when it comes to research and patient care.”