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QA 5 QUESTIONS College of Medicine at Rockford third-year student Kimberly Jerdan is president of the University Medical Students Council, an intercampus organization that brings together students from Chicago, Peoria, Rockford and Urbana to network and advocate for their interests. She shared her thoughts about the benefits of the council. 1 What is the mission and purpose of the University Medical Students Council? It's the voice of the medical students. It's a cliché, but it's true. We're all busy with our school- work, but there are other matters we have to address. We all come from different parts of the state. We're not all together at the same campus. It's nice for people from all four campuses to discuss what's important. We make sure we have one representative from each campus on stu- dent council. We tried to incorporate students from the MD/PhD programs more this year. They've been here longer, and they've seen all the changes, so it's important to hear their opinions. 2 What were the council's main accomplishments during 2011-12? One issue that has been affecting our council for many years is student health. We came up with a student health alliance that works directly with Campus Care. It's been easier for Chicago students to get access, so we met with the administrators of Campus Care to address other campus' needs. For example, birth control was not offered at a discounted rate at the neighboring campuses, and now it is. On another front, we worked closely with [senior associate dean for advancement] Keith Todd to create alumni networking events. We made sure that each campus had a branch of the alumni committee, and we're hoping to get reunions at each campus to improve camaraderie, networking and advancement for each campus. That's my goal for this year. 3 What were the highlights of your quarterly meetings across the four campuses, and what other activities did you sponsor? At the first meeting we always introduce the council to the dean of the college. It's an inspirational meeting that lets the students know we have a voice. The first meeting sets our agenda for the year, and we really wanted to work on alumni ties and student health. Those were issues that had been creeping up on us. We aggressively tackled student health in the second meeting. The third meeting laid groundwork for why alumni liaisons are helpful. As for activities, we oversee regional student councils at each respective site that are very proactive and sponsor events. We're the umbrella group. 4 What made you decide to participate? I'm from central Illinois, and I'm part of the Rural Medicine program; but I have a Hispanic mother, and I work closely with the Urban Health Program, too. I even did a summer of research with the Hispanic Center of Excellence. I felt like I could speak for many of the different groups. I started out attending meetings as my class representative; the next year I became secretary and representative for Rockford. I'm the first third-year student to be elected president and will be again next year. I feel lucky to have a very proactive council. I feel like we can be the voice for everyone. 5 How do you hope to tap into your leadership experience professionally? I think it's important as a physician to be proactive in all facets of life. We have such a big voice that we need to exercise it. We need to use it, especially in today's society with all the changes going on in health care, where we should advocate for our patients. It should come naturally to all of us. 44 | FALL 2012 PHOTO: LLOYD DEGRANE