Student National Medical Association

The Student National Medical Association, Inc. (SNMA) was created in 1964 through the enthusiastic cooperation of medical students at Howard University School of Medicine and Meharry Medical College.

One of the primary missions of our founders was to increase the number of sensitive and excellent physicians who felt a strong commitment to service in minority and indigent communities. In addition, these students saw the need for the creation of an organization which formed a fraternal alliance among the students of color currently enrolled in American medical colleges.

The formation of the SNMA created organized channels for minority medical students to encourage and support each other in their pursuit of a medical education. The founders of the Student National Medical Association established the organization, as written in Article II of the constitution, in order to:

  • Create an atmosphere wherein professional excellence and moral principles can find expression.
  • Disseminate information relative to minority programs within the field of medical education.
  • Take the necessary and proper steps to eradicate prejudicial appeals to be based on race, creed, color, sex or national origin.
  • Provide national leadership in the promulgation of legislative policies for the provision of better health care.
  • Sponsor programs for minority youth to encourage their entrance into the health professions.
  • Raise the level of minority student recruitment, admissions, and retention in schools training health care professionals.

The Student National Medical Association was organized on the University of Nebraska Medical Center campus in 1976. Our predecessors have succeeded in completing a variety of projects which embrace the national mission of fraternal support and community service.

SNMA-UNMC is dedicated to the following goals:

Leadership development - by enabling SNMA members to become proficient and sensitive health practitioners and community leaders. In pursuit of this goal, we encourage incoming students to fine-tune their leadership skills and run for a local office.

Social awareness - SNMA-UNMC is organized to foster a spirit in our members which is concerned with the health care issues as they pertain to underserved communities on the national, state, and local level.

Service and humanity - The SNMA-UNMC is a family of students which have a commitment to making a significant contribution to the health professions and underserved communities.

Excellent as physicians - The SNMA-UNMC wants to see its membership maximize their personal and professional potential and will do everything to provide our membership with the support and encouragement they need to do so.

The SNMA-UNMC encourages the development of physicians which can deal with their patients in unlimited socio-economics conditions.

In our effort to live up the mission of the SNMA-UNMC, the following activities are proposed for the upcoming academic year and are subject to revision by the membership. The activities are as follows:

Community Service

  • Blood pressure screening project
  • North Omaha Boys Club physicals
  • Juneteenth Celebration booth
  • HPREP
  • UNMC talks and tours
  • Food baskets/Thanksgiving

Retention/recruitment

  • Big Brothers/Big Sisters program
  • MAPS Health Expo

The most important factor to the success of the mission of SNMA-UNMC is our membership. It is only through the active participation of bright, energetic physicians in training that we are able to continue our endeavors.

SNMA-UNMC is your organization and we want to make your time on the UNMC Campus as pleasant as possible. We look forward to your joining us as we continue to strive to fulfill the mission of SNMA.

Sincerely,

Jameca Price
SNMA-UNMC President
jrprice@unmc.edu