Dhriti Sooryakumar, MD

Hello! My name is Dhriti Sooryakumar and I am a current resident physician at the University of Michigan. I went to medical school at Ohio State University and completed my Undergraduate and Master of Science Degrees in Biotechnology/Drug Development from Johns Hopkins University.

Prior to medical school, I was recipient of the National Institutes of Health/Johns Hopkins University Molecular Target and Drug Discovery Fellowship and worked at the National Cancer Institute developing novel anticancer drugs. I also served as Medical Program Advisor for the International Medical Organization, Global Brigades, in Honduras. I have been dedicated to SAEM over the past years and its incredible mission and vision to serve emergency medicine physicians and learners both nationally and internationally. I sincerely hope I may have the honor to continue serving you, my peers, as RAMS Board of Directors Member at Large.

I had the privilege to serve as Medical Student Representative on the RAMS Board of Directors from 2020-2021 and am thrilled with the great progress and novel initiatives I was able to create and implement for our Medical Student and Resident Members.

During my time on the RAMs Board, I was able to:

• Conceptualize the National Virtual Residency Fair held in July 2020.
• Create Underrepresented Minority Medical Education Scholarships which I successfully matched by our National Academies for the costs of national licensing exam costs and preparatory materials.
• Create multiple novel webinar series in tandem with SAEM leadership and faculty advising medical students, including one guiding medical students through the first Covid19 Residency Application Season, and another highlighting Women in Academic Emergency Medicine.

I have remained dedicated to the organization over the past two years, working on the development of novel medical education initiatives.

If re-elected, I would like to continue to represent the interests of my resident and medical student colleagues, and serve as the voice and bridge for resident and medical student needs with the national organization. I believe my past years of dedicated service to my medical student and resident peers on the RAMS Board of Directors, as well as my previous career experiences in leadership have prepared me well for this role.

If re-elected to the RAMS Board of Directors, I would like to:

• Continue developing and expanding national medical education and scholarship opportunities for our medical student and resident members.
• Create further national mentorship opportunities, especially for women, underrepresented minorities, students, and residents.
• Continue to work with the Board of Directors to create novel national clinical skills workshops, webinars, and educational series to enhance Medical Education and ease the residency application process/transition into residency and faculty positions.
• Work to expand exposure to/opportunities for Emergency Medicine fellowships and niche areas on a national level (for example Ultrasound, Critical Care, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and Social Emergency Medicine to name a few) with networking opportunities for residents and medical students.
• Work to create career-bolstering and professional development opportunities (e.g. negotiation skills workshops, CV building, networking events, and mentorship) for residents as they begin applying for faculty positions and fellowship.
• Create career-enhancing mentorship and professional development opportunities for medical students, including those geared towards under-represented minorities and students at orphan programs lacking traditionally-strong EM programs.
• Create initiatives to increase the emphasis on wellness within residency. This would include working to create national and regional wellness events for medical students and residents to attend.

I am very open to hearing from our resident and medical student members, and really hope to continue representing and serving your needs as a Resident Representative on the RAMS Board of Directors! Thank you for your consideration.