A Letter from our Co-Presidents

Dear Charles Drew Members,

We hope that you have enjoyed all of our events, study breaks, information sessions, and general body meetings. This semester we brought you the MD/PhD Information session, the Medical School Admissions Seminar, the Summer Opportunities Information Session and Research Symposium, our annual MCAT Auction, and much more. Congratulations again to Jina Lim, CC’13 for winning!

No organization can be successful without support from its members and we look forward to getting to know all of you more personally at all of our exciting events next spring. We cannot show enough appreciation for your help in making this semester so wonderful! We also thank our dedicated and hard-working executive board and committee members without which we would accomplish very little. They are at the heart of helping us bring to you the tools, advice, and motivation you need to succeed in your endeavors to enter the medical field.

As the semester has come to a close, we would like to wish you a great winter break and hope you will enjoy some much deserved rest. Good luck to anyone who is currently applying to medical school, attending interviews, or preparing to take the MCAT.

We have more exciting events and trips planned for you next year that are tailored to your interests as a pre-medical student at Columbia and Barnard. We recognize your desire for more study breaks, group trips to pre-medical conferences and medical schools, and diverse panels. If you have any suggestions for events that you would like to see take place, feel free to email us and we will work to make that event a reality.

Take some time for self care and stay motivated! See you next semester!

Sincerely,
Princess Francois, CC’11
Brian Lewis, CC’11
Co-Presidents of Charles Drew


Farewell from our Senior Advisor

Dear Charles Drew Members,

I was asked to write a Senior Advisor Farewell Letter, and up to this moment I have found the task utterly impossible: forever I will share with the Society its mission; I will never leave the Society. From the time I was enrolled into the State Pre-Enrichment Program at the Columbia University Medical Center as a high school junior, the desire to increase the number of minority and underrepresented medical doctors and health professionals to better diversify the pool within the borders of the U.S. has always been the main driving force behind all that I do in regards to attaining my goal of becoming a member of society who properly serves the sick as an academic doctor.

And through the great successes of the Society this past academic year under the direct leadership of Ms. Princess Francois and Mr. Brian Lewis, the goal of this mission, for me, has become exponentially more tangible. Although I understand that much more has to be done, the cultivation of the Society has proven that reaching this goal can be properly facilitated through a strong group effort. Thus to even think about "leaving" the Society would be blasphemy to me. Hence I am going to share with you all a few words of encouragement before I commence a new stage in my life, which is not more distant from the Society, its mission, you all, or the desire we share to properly serve the sick.

One of the few statements I made as Senior Advisor was to be sure to take the Society to heights past those attained in previous years: progress must always be; it makes no sense whatsoever to remain stagnant, especially when taking into consideration the task at hand. As you can see, these words of advice were more than taken into consideration. They were followed whole heartedly this past year. I wish share with you all this same exact message. Furthermore, I want you to remember all of the benefits you and your prehealth peers have reaped as a result of this year’s hard work. There are so many more eager students who wish to feel exactly how you feel this moment; we need more students to feel exactly how you feel this moment. Understand that we wish not to increase the number of minority and underrepresented doctors just for the sake of numbers. We know for a fact that a better variety of ideas and worthwhile contributions to the health professional field can only yield better health care for everyone regardless of race, ethnicity or economic class. So I ask that you all join me in continuing to strive for a more diverse and more effective medical field that works hard to properly care for all.

Sincerely,
Victor Thompson, CC’10
Senior Advisior of Charles Drew