PNWU Student Doctor Shukri Salad (OMS II) was recently elected to serve on the Washington Academy of Family Physicians’ Board of Directors.
As a second-year Osteopathic Medical Student, she brings a wealth of passion and perspective to an organization representing nearly 4,000 Washington physicians, residents, and students.
PNWU Student Doctor Shukri Salad’s perspective on medicine was forged at a young age. Having immigrated to the U.S. from Kenya at age four, she understood firsthand the difficulties facing medically underserved people. Now in her second year at PNWU, Student Doctor Salad’s passions are poised to shape how family medicine is delivered across the State of Washington.
Shukri Salad, PNWU OMS II, was elected to the Washington Academy of Family Physicians’ (WAFP’s) Board of Directors in May. As a WAFP Board of Directors co-trustee, Student Doctor Salad will help to direct an organization representing nearly 4,000 physicians, residents, and students in the State of Washington.
Alongside Brooke Byun, a third-year medical student at WSU’s Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, Student Doctor Salad will be invited to attend each WAFP board meeting, where she will weigh in on key questions before the organization. The pair will also serve as co-chairs of the group’s Student and Resident Subcommittee, along with WAFP’s resident trustee and alternate resident trustee, where they’ll help to plan the Student and Resident Retreat and other activities geared toward physicians in training.
“WAFP’s Executive Committee is extremely excited to welcome Student Doctors Salad and Byun to our Board,” said Angela Sparks, MD, FAAFP, WAFP Immediate Past President. “The voices of medical students, residents, and new physicians on the board help WAFP stay closely in touch with the emerging issues in Family Medicine and the challenges faced by family physicians.”
“Student Doctor Salad will also provide an important perspective that other board members and academy leaders may not be aware of,” added Dr. Sparks. “She can speak to the unique opportunities and challenges in osteopathic medical education.”
Student Doctor Salad spent the past year as the Secretary of PNWU’s Family Medicine Interest Group (FMIG), working to increase family medicine exposure and interest among her PNWU peers. “I am very passionate about family medicine,” she explained, “and it’s been really rewarding to attend a school where family medicine is highly prioritized, and to collaborate with my peers who share that passion.”
After attending a retreat hosted by the WAFP, she began looking into the co-trustee position, and was energized by the chance to serve as a liaison to Family Medicine Interest Groups (FMIGs) in medical schools beyond PNWU. With encouragement from PNWU faculty advisers Thomas Miller, DO, MPH, and Russel Maier, MD FAAFP, she decided to apply.
“When students participate in that advocacy, they build skills that will benefit them and their patients no matter where they practice.”
“Advocacy is such a large part of WAFP’s activities,” explained Mark Johnson, MD, WAFP president. “When students participate in that advocacy, they build skills that will benefit them and their patients no matter where they practice. Whether you’re meeting with a state senator about health policy or on the phone to get a medication covered by a patient’s insurer, the root skills are the same.”
With a desire to practice in an underserved community, and a deep interest in topics such as refugee health, Student Doctor Salad credits the WAFP as a great resource for her passions.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the mission,” she said.
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In addition to her WAFP role, Student Doctor Salad is also Secretary of PNWU’s Family Medicine Interest Group, the Internal Affairs Chair for the university’s Muslim Medical Student Association, and a co-mentor in the Roots to Wings program.