BIOMEDICAL SCHOLARS ASSOCIATION

Our Mission

As the largest student organization that supports underrepresented minority (URM) students at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, School of Public Health, and School of Nursing, we help our institution strive towards diverse and inclusive excellence, and demonstrate to the larger scientific and healthcare community the existence of and importance of URM success. The Biomedical Scholars Association engages graduate students and develops a network of support among our members through our programming in four key areas: professional development, community service, social activities, and recruitment of URM students.

History

Goals

The Biomedical Scholars association was founded in 2006 by Dr. Jennifer R. Cohen, then a Biochemistry Cellular and Molecular Biology student, to fulfill the unmet academic, social, and community-focused needs of students from underrepresented backgrounds at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutes campus. Over the past 12 years, we have carried on this legacy through providing programming and services targeted to the needs of our peers. Our events are open to all Hopkins trainees passionate about cultivating a diverse and inclusive environment on our campus!

We advocate on behalf of our peers to other student groups, Hopkins faculty, and JHMI leadership. We aim to bring light to issues facing both students of color at our university, as well as members of the surrounding community. These priorities are carried out in four main goals:

To support the professional development of our peers through workshops. We partner with similarly-focused student groups and the Professional Development and Career Office to reach this goal.
To work with and engage members of the Baltimore community during at least one service activity each month.
To strengthen our institute's internal community and provide a healthy outlet for graduate student stress through game nights, happy hours, and movie outings.
To grow Hopkins' network of underrepresented minority students and support our organization's survival through our involvement in graduate program recruitment.