2021-2022 AMSA Officers
Co-President: Ernesto Mendoza Espinosa
Email: ernestom99@csu.fullerton.edu
Hello everyone, I have been on the AMSA board for almost 4 years now. I joined AMSA in my first semester of college. In this club I have been event coordinator and Co-President for 2 years in a row. Through my time here I have gained valuable friends who have mentored me and showed me what it means to be a leader and what it means to be a physician. I know that the Pre-med track can be difficult with many students, friends, and even sometimes family telling you that you can’t do it. But here at AMSA my board and team are here to tell you that you can do it! I am a first generation/DACA student, I want to be able to provide a safe community where all premeds can help support each other and lift each other up in this already hard journey. We provide resources for all of you but most importantly we are here to be your friend and support one another. As I am now in my fourth year serving as Co-President, I can think back to all that AMSA has given to me and it is something that I will continue to use every single day of my life even after I graduate. And has taught me that no matter the circumstance you can do it!! And that is what I hope you will all take as well once you join AMSA.
Furthermore, during my time at CSUF I have also volunteered at St. Joseph Cope Health Scholars program, Latino Health Access food bank. And recently completed a summer internship called AltaMed HCOP summer program. Through all my experience I have learned what problems patients in my community face here in Orange. I have seen the impact social determinants of health have on the Latino population. I am very passionate to be able to come back one day and give back to my community. And most importantly I want to show dreamers like me that they can become doctors or go into the health care field regardless of your status or if you are undocumented like me. If this resonates with you this is the club to be!
Vice President: Milan Patel
Email: mpatel25@csu.fullerton.edu
Hello everyone, my name is Milan Patel, and I am currently in my last year as a Biochemistry major. I joined AMSA my freshman year and have served as secretary and now as Co-president. I have loved my experience with the club because I have been able to learn so much about medicine, medical school, and what it will take to get there. I’m glad that I joined my freshman year because I was able to acquire a good group of other pre-med students to be able to discuss opportunities and our journey together. Listening to so many physicians and medical students only reinforced the idea that I wanted to be a doctor and got me even more fascinated in medicine. There’s so many specialties that I have learned about and been exposed to through AMSA that I am excited to be able to explore them further in medical school. AMSA also exposed me to various healthcare opportunities such as the COPE Health Scholars’ program, which has given me incredible patient care experience, and has also allowed me to form relations with numerous physicians. I am excited to see what else I can learn from AMSA this year, whether it be from our speakers, volunteer activities, or from each other. That is why we hope we can build a great pre-med community not just through AMSA, but across all of the pre-health clubs on campus.
Secretary: Valerie Garcia
Email: valerie01garcia@csu.fullerton.edu
Hi my name is Valerie Garcia and I am a fourth year biochemistry major. My future goal is to become a physician associate. I have been a part of AMSA for about two years and have served as the treasurer and currently as the secretary. My experience with AMSA has been the best and I have gained so many amazing friends who share similar goals as me, uplift me, and push me to do my best! AMSA has created a community where any pre-health profession can feel welcomed and supported.
After I graduate in spring 2022, I plan on taking a gap year to volunteer, shadow, work, and hopefully travel! I was a part of the Cope Health Scholars program at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Orange and recently got certified as an EMT and currently in the process of applying for a job! I am also in Dr. Linder’s research lab and a part of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority.
A fun fact about me is that I can say the alphabet backwards! I can also solve a rubik's cube. During my free time, I love to paint, hike, go to the beach, and binge watch shows! I am super eager to meet our new members and continue making our pre-med/pre-health community stronger!
Treasurer: Kelly Nguyen
Email: kellynguyen1320@csu.fullerton.edu
Public Relations: Daisy Martinez
Email: dmartinez2001@csu.fullerton.edu
Hi everyone!!
I’m Daisy Martinez and I’ll be serving as the Public Relation’s Officer for AMSA this year! I’m currently a 3rd year Biology major with a Cellular and Developmental Biology concentration, and I’m currently in Dr. Johnson’s Microbiology research lab! My health care career goal is to become a physician, I would love to specialize in pediatrics or family medicine. I was a tutor at a nonprofit organization for around 5 years, where I was able to help first generation elementary students with their homework as well as work with their families on how the American school system works. Through this experience I was able to realize the importance of Latinx representation in STEM and in medicine, as several of my students were first generation, and had no idea what STEM was and had no idea that they too could pursue medicine as a first generation American! I have always had a love for science and I’ve always enjoyed helping people so pursuing medicine always seemed like the perfect career for me.
I’ve been a part of AMSA for around 2 years and it’s provided me with such a supportive community of pre health students, along with providing me with several amazing opportunities. I’ve been a Health Scholar at Mission Hospital for around a year and I’m currently serving as a department and training coordinator! Being a Scholar has really solidified my desire to become a pediatrician by being able to build relationships with pediatricians! Being in AMSA I’ve been able to learn about several different ways to apply to medical schools through the guest speakers that we have. It was through there that I decided to take a gap year after graduating to focus on studying for the MCAT as well as gain more clinical experience before I decide to apply to medical school!
I hope you all decide to join our AMSA family! Please feel free to shoot me an email if you have any questions about AMSA or doing research at CSUF or if you just want to chat :D I hope to see you all soon!
ICC Rep: Dwiti Patel
Email: dwitipatel28@csu.fullerton.edu
Hello everyone! My name is Dwiti Patel and I am currently in my fifth year majoring in Biology with a concentration in Cell and Developmental Biology. I currently serve as an ICC representative for AMSA. I have been part of AMSA for about a year now. After going to the first meeting of this club, I felt so welcomed and connected with everyone. It gave me a community of pre-meds whose purpose and vision aligned with mine. Through this organization, I gained so much insight on what it takes to become a physician and not just that but what it also looks like once you become a doctor. All the guest speakers and medical students who spoke at our meetings helped me make a firm decision about my future career and got me excited to learn more about medicine. Through AMSA I was able to know about some opportunities such as COPE Health Scholar’s Program. This program has exposed me to hands-on patient care and showed me what it looks like to be a frontline healthcare worker. It also exposed me to different specialties. I think it is a great way to step your foot into the field and see if this is the best fit for you. It is also a great way to make connections with doctors and other healthcare professionals. I am very excited to meet everyone and see what you all take away from this club. I hope you have a good time with us this semester! I am looking forward to making this community stronger and stronger each day! If you have any questions or just want to chat feel free to reach out to me anytime via email or my phone number. We all shall have an amazing semester! :)
Event Committee: Restie Jane Tagorda
Email: rjanetagorda@csu.fullerton.edu
Hello everyone! My name is Restie and I am one of the AMSA’s Event Coordinators for the 2021-2022 term. I am a fourth year majoring in Biology, with a concentration in Cell and Developmental Biology. I have been a part of AMSA for only a year, but this organization has blessed me with a wonderful community of pre-med and other pre-health students. I have previously served as the Social Media chair and wanted to continue to develop myself as a leader, especially for this organization. For my last year in AMSA, my goal is to create a safe and comfortable space for everyone, where we can support and uplift each other. During this term, I hope to plan events and socials where we can safely spend time together and create everlasting memories and bonds! Our AMSA board will do our best to provide you all a fruitful and invaluable experience and resources.
My dream is to become a behavioral neurologist or neuropsychiatrist. Mental health and well-being is important to me, and I have always been interested in the brain and learning about behavior and cognition. I want to understand how and why people behave in certain ways. By doing so, I think that sparks open-mindedness and empathy, which I believe are very powerful virtues to hold. My medical/clinical experience as a pre-med is a bit scarce, but I am about to begin my new job as an Emergency Department Scribe at St. Jude Medical Center here in Fullerton! Through this opportunity, I hope to learn how to think like a doctor and figure out what type of doctor I ultimately want to be in the future: a physician who is empowering, inspiring, and trustworthy!
In my free time, I love listening to music and doing other musically-related activities, such as singing (in the car, in my room, in the shower), dancing with friends, and learning how to play songs on the piano. I listen to K-pop, and my favorite groups are Stray Kids and NCT. Also, my favorite Western artists are Rex Orange County and The Driver Era! Feel free to send me some song recommendations! I love indie pop and pop rock, and would love to discover many many more genres. Well, enough about me! I am looking forward to meeting and learning about you all.
Event Committee: Giavanna Pitts
Email: giavanna0821@csu.fullerton.edu
Hey hey hey! My name is Giavanna Pitts, and I am serving as one of the Event Committee Board members for AMSA this year! Currently, I am a second-year at CSUF studying Child and Adolescent Studies and minoring in Spanish and Chemistry. In addition, I enjoy reading, watching The Bachelor, taking night drives, and singing.
I have wanted to become a doctor ever since the age of 8. My decision officially solidified in my junior year of high school, where I participated in the Stanford Medical Youth Science Program. This program allowed me to rotate in clinical rotations from many specialties, gave me an internship in Stanford’s ICU Unit, and be taught specialized anatomy lectures and labs taught by medical students at the School of Medicine. As a result, I fell in love with this career field.
My goal is to become a Pediatrician in the future because I have always had a love for medicine and kids. I not only want to be their doctor, but I want to be their mentor, friend, role model, and cheerleader. I want young people to look at me and see that because I made it, they can make it too—# RepresentationMatters. I want them to see and believe that they can do anything they put their mind to if they work at it. I want to become a doctor not only because I want to help people. Becoming a doctor means so much more to me. As a black woman pursuing medicine, I desire a more significant impact. I desire to break language barriers, spread awareness about black maternal health, increase knowledge of health disparities, and overall use the knowledge I’ve gained to make a difference.
I am so excited to be serving you this year! My email is always open if you have any questions. I can offer advice on my experience thus far of being a non-science major, being a minority in STEM, or to chat!
Looking forward to meeting you all :)
Event Committee: Melissa Fernandez
Email: Fernandez00@csu.fullerton.edu
Hi everyone!! My name is Melissa and I am a part of the Event Committee in AMSA. A little about me is I am from Fontana, CA, I have 5 sisters, and I am 21 years old. I love to read books and write in my spare time. I also love watching anything Marvel and Disney. I collect seashells and I love to go hiking!
I am currently a 4th year Biological Science major here at CSUF, and I am concentrating in Cell and Developmental Biology. After I graduate at CSUF, I would love to continue my education in a masters program here as well. I am currently in a research lab in which I would like to continue my higher education at. After my masters I would love to go to medical school to become either a Dermatologist or a Cardiologist. This is because rare skin conditions and heart problems run in my family and I would like to learn more about them in hopes of one day creating a treatment for my family.
I am really excited to serve as your event committee this year!! I am excited to meet you all and have a really great semester! I am always free to contact either through email or my number! :)
