Dhriti Sooryakumar, MD, MS

Hello! My name is Dhriti Sooryakumar and I am a recent graduate from The Ohio State University College of Medicine. I am currently completing my emergency medicine residency training at Mercy Health - St. Rita’s Medical Center. I completed my undergraduate degree from Johns Hopkins University, my Master of Science Degree in Biotechnology/Drug Development also from Johns Hopkins, and am completing my Masters in Public Health 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 and served on their International Advisory Committee.

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 a Resident Representative on the RAMS Board of Directors.

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 first held in July 2020.

• Create $500 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 which guided medical students through the first Covid19 Residency Application Season, and another highlighting Women in Academic Emergency Medicine. 

I have remained dedicated to the Board over the past years and have been working the past year and a half on the creation, planning, and implementation of large-scale national medical education initiatives geared towards 3rd and 4th year medical students for integration into the SAEM annual meetings.

If re-elected, I would like to continue to represent the interests of my resident and medical student colleagues nationally, 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 to develop and expand 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 Emergency Medicine Medical Education and ease the residency application process/transition into residency and faculty positions.

• Work to expand Emergency Medicine niche and fellowship opportunities (for example Ultrasound, Critical Care, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and Social Emergency Medicine to name a few) for medical students and residents. 

• Create career-bolstering and professional development opportunities (for example: negotiation skills workshops, CV building, and networking opportunities) for medical students and residents nationally, 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 programs. This would include working to foster the culture of resident wellness on a national level as well as within individual progams, while creating novel 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.