A student from Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine has been named 2019 Michigan College of Emergency Physicians (MCEP) Outstanding Medical Student of the Year.
M4 Amanda Amen is set to receive the award Dec. 4.
According to MCEP, the award annually recognizes an outstanding medical student from a Michigan medical school who demonstrates excellence in his/her studies and displays a genuine enthusiasm for pursuing a career in emergency medicine.
“I feel really proud to have this recognition, and incredibly grateful,” Amen said. “I’m really excited to represent OUWB in this way.”
Amen is from Dearborn, Michigan. She attended Dearborn High School before earning her undergraduate degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
Amen said she was drawn to OUWB because of what she called “a sense of community early on.”
“During my Interview Day, I could tell community was a primary focus,” she said. “That was something I was really looking for in a medical school.”
Once at OUWB, Amen said she considered many different specialties.
She decided to go into emergency medicine for numerous reasons, including mentors who heavily influenced her in their respective approaches to the profession.
“They’re not just role models for the kind of doctor I want to be, but for the kind of person I want to be,” she said.
Also, Amen said she “loves that in emergency medicine you’re taking care of people from all walks of life.”
“It’s a really versatile specialty that I think puts you in a position to really impact your community,” Amen said.
A member of MCEP for three years, Amen said the organization “is incredible for what it does for medical students in the state of Michigan.” Among other things, MCEP has a Medical Student Council (MSC) and hosts a medical student forum at a winter symposium.
“They’re very involved in trying to support medical students and I’m very proud to have been involved in it,” she said.
According to Belinda Chandler, executive director, MCEP, nominees for the Outstanding Medical Student of the Year must be current members of MCEP, the national American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) as well as the Emergency Medicine Residents’ Association (EMRA); enrolled and in good standing as student at an accredited school or college of medicine in Michigan; with an intent to pursue graduate medical education in an emergency medicine (or EM-combined) residency program.
Additionally, the recipient will have exemplified leadership and service to medical organizations, humanism/professionalism, scholarly achievement, community service and research/publications.
Chandler said Amen was nominated by Jacob Manteuffel, M.D., emergency health physician, Henry Ford Health System, and a past president of MCEP who works closely with the organization’s student council.
Amen served as the chair of the MSC in the last academic year. She has been a leader within the MSC since her first year as a medical student, and has served as vice chair.
“Amanda put in countless hours over the last two years, with each year culminating with our Medical Student Forum at the MCEP Winter Symposium,” said Manteuffel. “Strong leadership is essential to the continuity of the council and Amanda was heavily involved to make the Medical Student Forum a great success.”
Amen gave a lot of credit for the nomination and award to those who have helped her develop, “including my mentors and family.”
In addition to Manteuffel, two others mentors she said were important to her were Michael Gratson, M.D., instructor, Department of Emergency Medicine, and Bradford Walters, M.D., associate professor, Department of Emergency Medicine.
David M. Thomas, Ph.D., interim associate dean for Pre-Clinical Medical Education, and
associate professor, Department of Foundational Medical Studies, said Amen “embodies all we hope to foster in our students.”
“She has wonderful medical knowledge, and she has the kindness, caring, and compassion that we hope to see in our graduates," Thomas said.
Thomas said he could tell early on that Amen was going to find success at OUWB. He said within the first few weeks of school she was, among other things, "very attentive, and very engaged."
"It was clear that she was on her way to where she is now," Thomas said.
In addition to being presented with the MCEP award Dec. 4, Amen has been inducted as a member of the Gold Humanism Honor Society, and is set to be inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society along with 19 other classmates on Oct. 22 at Meadow Brook Hall.
Thomas said he is confident Amen will find success when she graduates from OUWB.
"To have the medical knowledge in conjunction with the softer skills we try to nurture...she's a complete physician and she'll be whatever she aspires to be, in my view," he said.
For more information, contact Andrew Dietderich, marketing writer, OUWB, at [email protected].
