Austen Washington is the UNMC College of Medicine Student of the Month.
Name: Austen Washington
Hometown: Detroit
Year: M3
Education: Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio (30 minutes outside of Cleveland)
Hobbies: Pickleball, listening to hip hop podcasts, attending comedy shows (the last show I attended was Dave Chappelle in Omaha)
What do you do to stay balanced? I make a conscious effort to separate my workspace from my relaxation space. My room, for example, is work free; that is, only for enjoyment and relaxation. The same goes for the living room and whenever I go out into the city. The library, mainly anywhere on campus or a coffee shop are places where I focus on work. Keeping this separation helps with preventing academic fatigue and burnout.
Three things people may not know about me:
- I am the president of the recently chartered UNMC chapter of the Student National Medical Association (SNMA). We serve multiple purposes. One is to provide a safe space and support for students of color on campus (primarily in the college of medicine). Our second is to build and maintain relationships with undergraduate students, serving as a pseudo pipeline organization, to increase the population of the students of color on campus. Our third is community engagement in underserved communities with significant racially derived health disparities, primarily North Omaha.
- I am a distinguished member of the Phi Chi medical fraternity. I’ve served as the social chair; you may have received one or two emails from me in the past. I am currently the diversity chair, and this position has allowed me to share different cultures with the members of the house.
- As of October 2023, I am a proud uncle of twin nieces in Detroit.