The mission of the Graduate and Professional Student Association (GPSA) is to serve the collective interests of graduate and professional students at UCSF in order to improve student life on a university and system wide level through dialogue, action, and activities between students, faculty, and staff.

Below you will find the candidate statements of the individuals running for the 2015-16 GPSA Executive Council.  The ballot for the 2015-16 GPSA Executive Council will be open April 3-19. Good Luck!

Peter Croughan
School of Medicine
First Year Student

We know that we need interdisciplinary solutions to fix our ailing healthcare system, and interdisciplinary solutions need interdisciplinary teams. But true interprofessionalism isn’t built with spaghetti and marshmallows. It’s time that UCSF becomes the model institution for bringing health providers together, and that starts with us. My name is Pete Croughan, and I am running for GPSA president with the goal that by the end of this year, every student has at least one friend at each school they can call in times of need. To be this close to so many future leaders and not take advantage of our shared time here would be a shame. Who knows, getting to know each other might even be fun.

I love UCSF and have never been a part of a community like it. I grew up in Louisiana, lived on the East Coast for six years, and decided to move across the country and try something new. What I found here continues to exceed my expectations. I’m blown away by the caliber of people united by our shared vision: to provide uncompromising quality healthcare to the people that need it the most. But despite our shared goals, we operate in silos. We may be on the same team, may one day work in the same clinic, but I probably don’t know you, and you probably don’t know me.

I’ve come to know some of the incredible people inside and outside the medical school through different organizations since being on campus. I’ve served on various cross-school committees, focusing on issues from student health insurance to ensuring that our student fees are funding the organizations we care about. In my clinical immersion selective, I’ve worked closely with pharmacy students. After being elected to the medical school student government, I worked to address issues that I know aren’t confined to the medical school. Finally, through the whitecoats4blacklives die-in and IMPEC workers rally, I’ve seen the real-world impact we can have when we come together as students.

Here are some goals I think we can accomplish. We can organize more fun and free events for students. We can have mixers between schools. We can increase mental health support systems. We can improve family care services. And we can fight for more student housing. But these are just my ideas. I want to hear yours. I hope you’ll select me as your GPSA president, so we can work together to create the type of interprofessional environment we deserve at UCSF. Thank you for reading my statement and thank you for voting.

Micah Ahazie
School of Pharmacy
First Year Student

There are many discussions today surrounding the professional silos that exist within healthcare and scientific research, as well as the dangers these silos pose to the advancement of patient care and innovation. Due to this sequestration, significant progress is only achievable by the conscious efforts of professionals across various disciplines to cross boundaries and collaborate. The importance of this interrelation between disciplines cannot be overstated and I believe that it is important that we, even as students, begin to foster this spirit of collaboration among ourselves. This is one of my primary motivations for running for Vice President of Internal Affairs. My goal is to work with the GPSA Executive Board to organize events, both social and professional, that would not only highlight the strengths and values of each represented discipline, but also create more avenues for interaction across the student population. I currently serve as a Fundraising Coordinator for Script Your Future, an inter-professional campus organization focused on improving medication adherence within the community. This has been a very meaningful experience because it shows how students from different schools can begin to work together to effect change in our immediate communities.

In my final year of undergrad, I served as one of the coordinators within the community college transfer program of a non-profit organization. In this position, I personally mentored 10 students throughout the 2013-2014 academic year as they worked on transferring to four-year institutions. This involved providing feedback on their personal statements, giving advice and guidance on their applications, and helping to demystify the transfer process. Me and my fellow coordinators organized outreaches to community colleges within the San Francisco Bay area to speak to
students and to get them thinking of the next step in their academic careers. In this role, my colleagues and I were able to play a tangible role in the effort to increase the presence of minorities in higher education. I am very passionate about finding solutions to concerns that we students face, and in this position of Vice president of Internal affairs, you can expect nothing less than student-centered service from me. You can be
assured that I will not shy away from the issues that concern the student population, and I earnestly look forward working with the board to further the interests of the various student groups on our campus.

So vote for me and let’s get a few things done!

Yoomin Ahn
School of Dentistry
Second Year Student

My name is Yoomin Ahn, a second year dental student at UCSF, and I am writing to seek your consideration and support for the position of GPSA Vice President of Finance.

During the past few years at UCSF, I was blessed with opportunities to experience the UCSF community by actively participating in student groups and being a part of the student body. Coming from a college composing of thousands of students with a wide scope of majors, the difference in environment at UCSF, in which the students are studying in the same field of health care, enlightened the importance of inter-professional collaboration. I wish to be given the opportunity to contribute to the UCSF community as a whole by being elected as the Vice President of Finance in the Graduate and Professional Student Association.

I had the privilege to be involved as a local representative for organizations nationwide during my undergraduate years at Northwestern. Among many, I was fortunate to be the president and founder of the Northwestern’s chapter of MEDLIFE, which is an organization that goes on medical mission trips world wide with a goal of helping those in poverty to live healthier lives. I successfully arranged the first MEDLIFE team to provide treatment in La Chorrera, Panama, by communicating with students on campus as well as leaders at the national level and allocating the funds to minimize the expenses for the brigade.

I am currently an active member of Registered Clubs and Organizations at UCSF, including treasurer of Orthodontics Club and Communications Liaison of the John C. Greene Society. Through my involvement, I demonstrated my effective communications skills as well as organization skills to promptly act upon all given tasks. Since the position of Vice President of Finance has the importance of being meticulous and organized, I am confident that I can utilize my experiences to facilitate the inner-workings of UCSF as a whole.

As Vice President of Finance, I will prioritize the needs of the students by hearing student grievances and representing the student body to mitigate concerns regarding the administration of the GPSA funds. Furthermore, since I have experienced how the funding for Registered Clubs and Organizations is allocated, I will appropriately prepare the GPSA guidelines for funding RCOs. Since funding is a crucial element in organizations, I will make recommendations to the GPSA Assembly regarding funds to benefit the UCSF student body.

UCSF is composed of passionate future health care providers and leaders. As a part of this community, I would be thrilled to contribute to the improvement of the UCSF student body and I am certain that GPSA is the perfect organization to do so.

Thank you for your consideration.

Cheick Diarra
School of Pharmacy
Second Year Student

My name is Cheick O. Diarra, a second year student from the School of Pharmacy interested in the position of Vice President of Diversity Affairs. Based on previous experiences and a unique upbringing, I strongly believe that I will do an excellent job at this position if given the opportunity.

As current president of the class of 2017, I have both the honor and the responsibility to be an active voice for a very diverse classroom. My duties include but are not limited to attending quarterly meetings with the Office of the Dean of the School of Pharmacy to convey current and future concerns of my fellow classmates, organizing and coordinating events for the class and raising money towards graduation. These various tasks have taught me one basic rule that is quintessential to any leadership position "in order to serve any group, one has to first learn to master playing ears". In other words,  being able to listen and assess needs of the group you represent is the most important step in leading them.

On the other hand I have also served as Vice President of Academic Affairs for the National Community Pharmacists Association the past two quarters. This entailed coordinating a business skills and entrepreneurship elective for the school of pharmacy. One of my many responsibilities was to maintain a clear line of communication with the students by providing them with clarification on assignments and their deadlines. I was also responsible of inviting guest speakers upon the teacher's request to attend our weekly sessions. Outside of my duties in Academic Affairs, I also assisted other members of the cabinet with their respective duties whenever needed with the simple belief that "we rise as a unit and we fail as a group".

I have been fortunate to be raised by a mother who has dedicated her life and her law degree to being an activist for children and women's rights in West Africa. Through her work, I was able to learn the meaning of being a "voice" for those who needed one. I also witnessed changes she was able to accomplish through hard work and perseverance. I have learned at a young age through her that " nothing great comes easy and that nothing easy is lasting."

There is no doubt  that there is a lot of work to be done at UCSF to strengthen and promote diversity. To assure that our healthcare includes every single group in the future, it is imperative that the entire campus of UCSF becomes one. I strongly believe that my experiences and background make me the perfect candidate for this position because of my understanding of leadership, unity and my belief in hard work.

Betsy Martin
Graduate Division
Second Year Student

I am a second year PhD (passed my Quals, whew!) student working in Barbara Panning’s lab at Mission Bay. I decided to spice up my life a bit this past year and volunteer for the TETRAD graduate student representative role and ride the External Vice President wave from February-May through GPSA. I would love to have the opportunity to represent the graduate student voice as the EVP for the upcoming school year by attending and voting at the monthly UCSA board meetings. The past meetings I attended, I strived to bring an objective and realistic presence to the meetings I attended this spring.

Next year I plan to hold a monthly town hall meeting for the UCSF community where I will share the upcoming resolutions and agenda of UCSA and listen to all concerns and opinions regarding UC system-wide issues. I would love to be the proxy at UCSA for a strong and united UCSF voice. Also, I plan to recruit a large contingent of students to the annual UCSA Lobby Day weekend in Sacramento in order to address local assemblymen and senators on issues pertaining to scientific research, education, and public access.

Currently I am passionate about fostering quality mentorship between graduate students and principle investigators therefore I will be an active member in UCSA’s campaign to create and sustain graduate student involvement in the hiring process of tenure-track faculty members.

Caroline Opene
School of Medicine
First Year Student

Hi everyone, my name is Caroline and I am running for the position of GPSA Vice President of External Affairs. What this means is that I will represent you, the UCSF student body, to our outside partners. This includes the greater UC system and the Council of Student Fees. As a lifetime student in California public schools, I am very familiar with its positive attributes: accessibility to the public and our reputation for excellence. But I also see some areas of improvement, specifically in that the large size of the system makes communication with students impersonal and that messages get lost in translation.

As VP for External Affairs, I hope to rectify some of these issues by bridging the gap between the students and their representatives. I plan to bring the unique perspective of UCSF students into my dealings by making sure that students’ voices are heard in the decision-making process, even to the state and national legislature. I will champion issues that are important to us: preventing tuition hikes and ensuring funding for our interests. Additionally, it will be part of my role to streamline the communication process, making sure that information and events outside our UCSF family are brought to our busy students in a clear, straightforward fashion. By encouraging clear communication, I hope to bridge the gap between students and our outside partners. Internally, I hope to make the GPSA more accessible to UCSF students and also bring the different professional and graduate programs closer together. By helping to plan events that unite the students on campus, I hope to facilitate networking among students and unite the wealth of knowledge that we have here at UCSF.

Ami Patel
School of Pharmacy
Second Year Student

Having served as the Treasurer for the School of Pharmacy’s Class of 2017, I have learned several important principles regarding student leadership roles and interprofessional collaboration. I feel that my position as a Treasurer has given me the skills I need to succeed as the Vice President of External Affairs. My main goals are to address the professional concerns of my colleagues at the annual Student Association meetings and to resolve them in a way such that students can collaborate and agree upon. If elected, I am also taking on the responsibility of being the student representative for the University of California Student Association, meetings of the Regents, and the Council of Student Fees. The reason I am running for this position is because I feel that I have a special skill set of being able to reconcile the communications between the student body and the local, state, and national legislative bodies. If elected, I plan on dedicating my full efforts to bettering the experiences of my colleagues by having their voices heard to the GPSA council.