May 18, 2018
Sinan
Bana, a third-year medical student at Texas A&M College of Medicine (Texas
A&M), received the Texas Medical Association Medical Student Section (TMA-MSS) Student of the Year Award. The
Sugar Land medical student received the award today at TexMed, TMA’s annual
conference, in San Antonio.
“I am honored to receive this award,” said Mr. Bana.
“The great thing about TMA is that, even as students, we can contribute to the
process of improving the lives of patients and preserving the medical
profession.”
Since 1998,
TMA-MSS has recognized an outstanding student member who excels in furthering
the section’s goals and policies to improve Texas’ health care system. The
chapter aims to engage students in organized medicine by encouraging their
involvement in local county medical societies, TMA, and the American Medical
Association (AMA).
Mr. Bana joined
both TMA and AMA when he started medical school in 2015. He serves as an
alternate delegate for AMA’s Region 3 in its House of Delegates, the
organization’s policymaking body. Mr. Bana also represents the MSS on the board
of the TMA Foundation, the association’s philanthropic arm, and has served on
the TMA Board of Councilors, the association’s ethical policymaking body.
At Texas
A&M, Mr. Bana has served as president and treasurer of the TMA student
chapter. During his tenure as TMA chapter president, Mr. Bana encouraged fellow
medical students to get involved in organized medicine and prioritized helping
them attend TMA and AMA events and conferences, such as First
Tuesdays at the Capitol
lobbying days.
Christian
Beltran, vice president of the TMA chapter at Texas A&M, nominated Mr. Bana
for the award because of his outstanding leadership, including his commitment
to having Aggies represented at all levels of medicine, from local to AMA. “As chapter
president, Sinan created and facilitated opportunities for members to engage in
policy development and community service,” he said.
Mr. Bana and
other students collaborated to write resolutions about newborn safety in
hospitals and veterans’ access to health care. “Through
TMA, I have gained an understanding of the policymaking process,” he said,
“and have learned to communicate with congressional leaders
about important issues in medicine.”
Mr. Bana organized
naloxone training sessions for Texas A&M students and helped develop the
Aggie Health Project: Hepatitis C, an initiative that provides screening for
the disease at the Texas A&M student-run medical clinic in Bell County.
“Sinan’s
collaborative and inclusive style set a precedent that will be hard to match,”
said Mr. Beltran.
Other students
agreed. “He had the ability to really make you want to represent TMA, AMA, and
Texas A&M in the best light,” said one, in Mr. Bana’s nomination letter.
Mr. Bana, a
2014 graduate of The University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor of business
administration degree in accounting, will graduate from medical school in 2019.
TMA is the largest state medical society in the nation,
representing more than 51,000 physician and medical student members. It is
located in Austin and has 110 component county medical societies around the
state. TMA’s key objective since 1853 is to improve the health of all Texans.
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Contact: Brent Annear (512) 370-1381;
cell: (512) 656-7320; email: brent.annear[at]texmed[dot]org
Marcus
Cooper (512) 370-1382; cell: (512) 650-5336; email: marcus.cooper[at]texmed[dot]org
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