Miller School Students and Alumni Lead Medical Women’s Organization
Miller School students and alumni continued their legacy of strong presence and leadership at the annual American Medical Women’s Association National Conference, held March 14-16 in Washington, D.C. Representing the school at the conference were fourth-year student Marissa Orenstein (2013-14 AMWA national student president), third-year students Diana Botros and Melissa Stone; and second-year students Lotiffa Colibao (newly elected 2014-15 AMWA undergraduate recruitment chair), Johanna Kreafle and Komal Paladugu (2013-14 AMWA national student secretary).
Botros gave a presentation of her work on Project Serve, a student organization that prepares meals for guests at Ronald McDonald House, a home-away-from-home on the Miller School campus for families who have come to Miami seeking care for an ill child. Colibao presented a poster on “Gender Equality in Medical Education,” another Miller School project.
Also in attendance were Farzanna Haffizula, M.D. ’00, voluntary assistant professor of medicine and the 2014-15 AMWA national president, and Marie Denise Gervais, M.D., assistant clinical professor of family medicine.
Hilit Mechaber, M.D. ’95, Associate Dean for Student Services and the faculty advisor to the Miller School’s AMWA student chapter, is proud of its accomplishments. “For the past several years, our medical students have risen up to accept the challenge to lead the student chapter of AMWA at a national level,” she said. “They are helping to set the national agenda for women in medicine, and are also working toward their own professional development as key leaders of the future.”
