AAMC Honors Ignite Article on Latino Organization Leaders

In just a few years, the fledgling Northeast Ohio Medical University chapter of the national Latino Medical Student Association has taken off. Now, the story of the important work being done by the organization’s student leaders at NEOMED has won recognition from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). 

The national 2021 AAMC Group on Institutional Advancement (GIA) Awards for Excellence competition selected “The LMSA Effect: How a Student Organization Is Raising Awareness of Latino Health Needs,” written by Elaine Guregian, director of publications and communications at NEOMED, to receive a Bronze Award for Excellence in The Robert G. Fenley Writing Awards/General Staff Writing category. One judge called the article “a truly inspirational story.”

Other winners in the national contest were from the University of Chicago Medical Center (Gold and Silver); Cedars-Sinai (Gold); Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine (Silver); University of Florida Health (Silver); University of Utah Health (Silver); University of California, San Diego School of Medicine (Bronze); and Harvard Medical School (Honorable Mention).

Elaine Guregian, who is also the editor of Ignite magazine, wrote “The LMSA Effect” for the Spring 2020 issue of Ignite, based on interviews with College of Medicine students Anibelky Almanzar and Aviva Aguilar, then serving as co-presidents of NEOMED’s LMSA chapter. The article’s illustration (shown here) was commissioned from Malieka Gurerra, a graduate of the Myers School of Art at the University of Akron – a NEOMED partner school. Scott Rutan, Ignite magazine’s publication designer, created the layout. 

Due to COVID-19 precautions, copies of the Spring 2020 and Fall 2020 issues of Ignite were not distributed around campus. They are both available online, and hard copies may be requested by writing to marcom@neomed.edu.