Deviating from the average conference, the UF American Medical Student Association will host a medical festival this spring.
AMSA will host the first PremedFest on April 11 and 12 at the UF College of Medicine. Early registration closes Sunday, and students from around the country are encouraged to attend.
Scott Szymanski, president of UF’s AMSA chapter, wrote in an email that the event is coming together as a collaborative effort between the chapter, the UF Academic Advising Center in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the national AMSA office.
Szymanski, a 21-year-old UF biology and sociology senior, said he came up with the idea about a year ago so members can attend a medical conference without the burden of travel and hotel costs. AMSA’s Annual Convention was in Washington, D.C., he said.
The PremedFest is an “un-conference,” modeled after a music festival for a one-of-a-kind event that is interactive, celebratory and fun.
AMSA is anticipating about 500 participants. Registration costs $45 if completed before Sunday, $65 before March 29 and $95 at the event.
Jeff Koetje, AMSA director of experiences, said the organization wanted to create a sense of community among pre-medical students.
“Many students often feel isolated, alone or in competition with their classmates, and we wanted to create a sense of community, joy and happiness, highlighting them as an important part of the pre-med experience,” he said. “The joy and pleasure of becoming a doctor gets pushed aside.”
The events will be in four stages: Mind, Body, Spirit and Community. It will be interactive, with an open-mic session, theatrical productions of patient stories and 15-minute, TED Talk-style presentations.
The festival will feature Patch Adams, a world-renowned doctor who focuses on challenging the status quo of the current medical system by making it more personal.
Adams will hold discussions to review his methods, like “Medicine for Fun, not Funds,” which will get to the root of why students should want to be doctors.
“It is my hope that this event will be a place that premeds can actually have fun and enjoy being a premed and confirm their passions for medicine while learning a great deal about the profession they are about the enter,” Szymanski wrote.
[A version of this story ran on page 8 on 3/10/2015 under the headline “UF AMSA to host first Premedfest ‘un-conference’”]
