The Minority Association of Premedical Students at IU is dedicated to encouraging, retaining and empowering minority students pursuing careers as physicians. By engaging in community service and outreach, the organization promotes academic excellence while acknowledging cultural accomplishments, according to the association’s website.
There are more than 300 members in IUB-MAPS from diverse nationalities.
“We have people from South Africa, from Asia, from Europe,” Director of Public Relations Kenan Alibegovic said. “Different ethnicities, different races — we are pretty diverse.”
The Minority Association of Premedical Students is a nationally recognized organization founded by the Student National Medical Association. SNMA was established in 1964 by medical students from Howard University and Meharry Medical School as a subdivision of the National Medical Association. Today, many MAPS chapters exist around the country to support minority undergraduates pursuing medicine.
The IUB-MAPS chapter was established by 10 premedical students in fall 2008.
They agreed it would be best if all minorities came together to create a support system, and after some brainstorming, they decided to build MAPS. They spent two months drafting a constitution, electing officers, planning events, applying for grants and performing the necessary tasks to become an official IU organization.
After they officially established the association in November 2008, they started recruiting members and working toward uniting minorities on campus and providing a support system for students.
The most representative event of IUB-MAPS is the Pre-Professionalism Workshop, Alibegovic said, where the organization invites speakers from various aspects of medicine to speak to premedical students.
These guest speakers are physicians, physical assistants, physical therapy, dentists or ophthalmology doctors who sit down with students to discuss the real working experience in medical professions and give students advice about how to professionally communicate with patients.
“You can go find out some information yourself,” Alibegovic said. “But (to) actually go through it, to meet these people, to hear from them personally, it’s different. That’s what we provide.”
Another purpose of the IUB-MAPS is to create friendship among members. Almost every week, the members have a dance party, a barbecue, a talent show, a cultural night or a football match.
“One of my favorites has been our annual Networking Night, where I had the opportunity to network with and learn from a lot physicians and other professionals,” IUB-MAPS member Ani Yalamanchali said.
To learn more about IUB-MAPS, visit its website at iumaps.webs.com .
