Quinnipiac Medical Student Elected to Student Board of Directors

NORTH HAVEN - Whitney Nichols, of Suffolk, Virginia, a fourth-year medical student at the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University, has been elected to the Student National Medical Association (SNMA) board of directors.

Said Nichols: “This opportunity is special to me because I attended my first SNMA conference as a freshman in college and, a decade later, I now have the honor of coordinating it during my last year of medical school.”

Before attending Quinnipiac medical school, Nichols earned a bachelor’s degree in cognitive science from the University of Virginia and a master’s in clinical and translational research from Georgetown University.

While at Georgetown, she worked full-time for the Hepatitis C Program at Medstar Washington Hospital Center, where she conducted and published research regarding Hepatitis C treatment and testing disparities. As a result, Nichols helped create and implement a clinical program at MedStar to ensure best practice testing guidelines were followed.

In addition, Nichols participated in Call for Action at Capitol Hill regarding Hepatitis C funding disparities and participated in free Hepatitis C testing sites across the District. She also worked with the Med-IQ program to educate primary care providers on their testing preferences and biases around Hepatitis C treatment and testing.

Whitney also volunteered to be a clinical research coordinator for a KULEA-NET study that focused on understanding breast-feeding misconceptions for African American first-time mothers and addressing them.

After MedStar, Nichols was recruited by Booz Allen Hamilton for her expertise in data analysis. Her work at the Pentagon centered on educating United States Air Force civilians and airmen on the vision and strategy of data management and safety.

At Quinnipiac, Nichols worked UConn’s Center for Quantitative Medicine to create a protocol regarding the most common COVID-19 symptoms. The purpose of this project was to aid primary care providers in COVID-19 point-of-care testing.

Additionally, Nichols serves as an advocate and mentor for minority students interested in careers in science, technology, engineering and math, and has created programs at QU to assist struggling students with the transition to medical school.

Nichols also has created several programs to increase diversity in research in conjunction with the Student National Medical Association, where she served as the past associate region director for Region VII and is the incoming national convention planning co-chair. She was recently conducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society for her exemplary service, integrity, clinical excellence and compassion.

Founded in 1964 by medical students from Howard University College of Medicine and Meharry Medical College, the Student National Medical Association (SNMA) is the nation’s oldest and largest independent, student-run organization focused on the needs and concerns of medical students of color. Organized with chapters across the nation, the SNMA membership includes over 7,000 medical students, pre-medical students and physicians.

SNMA is dedicated to increasing the number of African American, Latino, and other students of color entering and completing medical school and to assisting in the eradication of racial and ethnic health disparities. SNMA community service and mentoring programs provide science appreciation, health care education, mentoring, and academic enrichment to elementary, junior high school, high school and college students interested in pursuing health-related careers.