Students understand how the non-profit community plays a critical role in the medical field, catering to doctors, life sciences companies, and patients.
During the last program of our Pre-Matriculation program, we had some amazing speakers from the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and the Rheumatology Research Foundation (RRF). These organizations run on the focus of educating medical students and professionals with the motto, “We’re here for you, so you can be there for your patients.”
Meet Our Speakers:
Eryn Marchiolo is the Vice President of Mission for RRF. She has 17 years of experience in nonprofit management and a passion for making an impact in healthcare philanthropy.
Starla Blanks is the Senior Director of Collaborative Initiatives for the American College of Rheumatology. She is dedicated to creating strategies and collaborations to advance health equity.
Adam Cooper is the Vice President of Practice, Advocacy & Quality at American College of Rheumatology.
These amazing speakers informed our students of the resources that the ACR has and how it can open doors for knowledge and connections that they would not otherwise have. With 4,690 awards and $232 million dollars in research funds, the ACR is focused on educating young minds and recruiting them to develop into wonderful physicians and researchers.
Some of the awards include:
Choose Rheumatology Scholarship: Nov 14-19 in Washington, D.C. 2024 ACR Convergence; $2,000 to cover travel expenses; application deadline is Aug. 1
Student and Resident Research Award: to recognize students or residents with outstanding work in Rheumatology
Medical and Graduate Student Preceptorship: 4 or 8-week mentorship program in clinical or research preceptorship
The ACR also has a Collaborative Initiatives Committee (COIN), which designs and implements projects and initiatives with members to impact health disparities and increase awareness about these topics. They conduct this by collaborating with different departments, members, patients, etc.
COIN works with:
Minority Clinical Trial Outreach
Self-Management
Primary Care Physician Outreach
Furthermore, ACR has Project LEAD, which is designed to engage and educate medical students from underrepresented backgrounds in the field of rheumatology and helps recruit students for roundtables, presentations, and other opportunities.
The ACR works to solve the well-known issues of the Rheumatology and healthcare world. These are Rheumatology shortages, which cause patients to wait for appointments or even the inability to access care. High drug prices affect copays, accessibility to care, and disease progression. And inadequate funding and deficits, taking the form of research budget cuts. The ACR is heavily involved with advocacy on the local, state, and federal levels. By making connections they amplify their message with their goal to maximize the number of voices they have for their cause.
The students learned that they have tons of resources and contacts at their disposal to further their knowledge in rheumatology and the medical field overall. They can all be advocates in their own journeys and take part in making changes to legislation and the healthcare world.
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