Anti-Bias Survey

Dear students: our Anti-Bias Committee here at National SAMSA would like to conduct a needs assessment survey to determine the topics our medical students feel would most help them during their training in a diverse and racialized country. We don't want to shy away from uncomfortable discussions! Please take 5 minutes to complete this short survey. This will guide our future programming and planning.

 
Get Featured!

During the month of May, we celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage. We want to showcase all of our wonderful members here at SAMSA! Participate in our new campaign by tagging @nationalsamsa and #PraisinTheAsian to be featured on our social media, or email/DM us a picture. We would love to showcase the diversity of the Asian experience! Follow our Instagram and Twitter to see more!

Happy Mother's Day from Maina Foundation

Mother’s Day is a special day for celebrating mothers and women who make this world a better place for their families and friends. This Mother’s Day, Maina Foundation is donating proceeds from the fundraiser to help with the COVID crisis in India.

Maina Foundation pledges to provide funds to support vaccination programs at Somaiya Hospital. For the past seven years we have worked with them to promote our mission of raising awareness and helping with early detection of breast cancer in the communities. Started in 2008 in the memory of Mrs. Shailaja Pandit, our goal is to prevent loss of lives by raising awareness and helping with early detection of breast cancer. On this Mother’s Day, due to the challenging times, we may not get to be with mom or that special woman in our lives – honor her with a gift of art/jewelry or a donation to the Foundation, here. You can also donate at this link through June.

Misinformation Research Study

The Covid Associated misinfoRmation On Messaging apps (C.A.R.O.M.) study at University of California-San Francisco is a qualitative study documenting and assessing misinformation related to Covid-19 over Whatsapp and Signal in South Asian communities.

Free messaging apps like WhatsApp have connected people across the globe; nearly 20 percent of the 2 billion Whatsapp users are located in India alone. However, it is difficult to regulate misinformation on these apps given their private nature. Addressing misinformation about COVID-19 —the disease, treatment, vaccines, and government response— is essential to supporting public health interventions now and in the future. 

If you have seen misinformation in your communities over Whatsapp, please screenshot or forward these messages to 415-409-9085.  Even if you aren’t sure, send it. Even if it’s from last year, send it! We won’t be saving any of your personal information.

For more information, please visit the CAROM website, Facebook page, Twitter or email carom.ucsf@gmail.com. Please share this information with friends, family, and colleagues. Thank you and stay safe.

Advocacy Statement

Throughout the pandemic, India established itself as a humanitarian leader by exporting valuable medical equipment and vaccine doses to nations in need. In its time of need, however, as Dr. Anthony Fauci stated, “The world has failed India.” We were shocked by the Biden administration’s decision to withhold millions of extra vaccine doses, crucial vaccine raw materials, and other medical equipment from export to India and we continue to be disappointed by the Biden administration’s late and slow response. This delayed response to India’s COVID-19 surge by the United States, and the lack of response by several other countries that collectively possess tens of millions of extra vaccine doses, has contributed to a serious public health and humanitarian crisis with far-reaching effects on the global Indian and broader South Asian communities. We stand in support of the petitions made by the US Chamber of Commerce, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and several Congresspeople to accelerate COVID-19 relief to India and urge the Indian-American and South Asian-American communities to continue applying pressure to seek an immediate resolution to this crisis.

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