Students from the School of Medicine’s Master of Sciences in Anesthesia program brought home two major awards from the American Academy of Anesthesiologist Assistants annual conference, April 10-14 in Orlando, Florida.
The program, for the second year in a row, brought home the organization’s AAAA Cup, an award given to one program based on its outstanding philanthropy, leadership, involvement, professionalism and participation in the annual Jeopardy competition.
School of Medicine students also came home as Anesthesiologist Assistants student Jeopardy champions for the second year in a row. The competition pits first-year students from programs across the country. The unique twist for UMKC students, said Melanie Guthrie, M.S.A., AA-C, director of the MSA program, is that while most programs begin their academic year in August, the School of Medicine program beings in January and therefore, first-year students at the School of Medicine have been in classes for just six weeks while most first-year students in other programs have been in classes for six to nine months.
A number of students were also recognized for their service on various organization committees. Juveria Nayeem, third-year student, was honored as the outgoing co-chairperson of the student component society. The organization also recognized Joseph Borup, first-year student, as one of the new incoming co-chairs.
“I am very proud of our students,” Guthrie said. “It is wonderful to go to these meetings and to hear from so many people how great our students are.”
