Medical students across the country are planning to tune into TEDMED 2014 this Wednesday through Friday. Make sure to join your peers in taking advantage of your complimentary access to TEDMED and hear inspirational perspectives from transformative thinkers in science, health and medicine.
Students can watch TEDMED in real time as the conference takes place Sept. 10-12 or stream content on demand Sept. 10-16. Visit the TEDMED 2014 website and enter invitation code “TMLicAMA14” to participate.
Here’s how you can make the most of this opportunity:
- Personal access: Experience TEDMED from the comfort of your own desktop or personal device.
- Group viewing: Get some fellow students together and view the program as a thought-provoking study break.
Some schools have organized viewing parties to provide students with a way to watch innovative speakers together and discuss what they hear.
The AMA Medical Student Section (MSS) at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine is planning a viewing party plus a multidisciplinary expert panel for each session to help spark discussion and relate the ideas presented in TEDMED sessions back to students’ own experiences. The idea is that students will be more comfortable with interdisciplinary collaboration, said Brad St. Martin, a second-year medical student at the University of Kentucky.
“As busy medical students, we often get stuck in a routine of focusing solely on the information that will be on the next test, and we’re not always aware of the bigger picture of current changes in health and medicine,” St. Martin said, pointing to TEDMED as a way to shake up that routine.
The University of Kentucky AMA-MSS and eight other school sections received Section Involvement Grants from the AMA to host viewing parties this week.
“One of my favorite parts about TEDMED talks are their ability to convey excitement for the future and for big ideas in our field,” said Erica Smearman, a sixth-year MD/PhD student at Emory University and coordinator of that school’s viewing party. “I’m looking forward to having the medical students share in this together and reinvigorate a passion for this career.”
“One perspective is never enough,” said Andrew Morrow, a second-year medical student at Indiana University School of Medicine–Terre Haute. “While we learn the best practices on the wards and in the clinic during medical school, it behooves us to keep an eye outwards and to the future. We think that the digestible ideas presented at TEDMED will challenge our thinking and add new equipment to our medical bag.”
If your school isn’t offering a viewing party, you don’t have to miss out. Plan to view selections of the event on your own, with a roommate or with a group of your classmates.
