Last Wednesday, the Graduate Education in Medical Sciences (GEMS) Club had students laughing, shouting answers and competing with each other for their trivia night. The trivia took the form of both individual and group competition, in Family Feud format.
The individual trivia used the downloadable application Kahoot! wherein participants answered biology questions from their phones. After a champion was awarded, GEMS split participants into four groups for Family Feud. Group members tried to come up with common answers for questions such as, “what do you do when you get sick?”
In addition to fun activities, GEMS provided pizza, chips and soda. While munching on pizza attendees listened to information about upcoming meetings and events, including Save-a-Life Day, which is scheduled for March.
Caitlyn Partridge, president of GEMS club said Save-A-Life Day is about educating students and helping certify individuals in CPR. “We want everyone on campus to know what to do in case of a crisis,” Partridge said.
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Beyond trivia and CPR certification, GEMS’ purpose is preparing Colorado Mesa University students for graduate schools. “Our main goal is to help anybody that’s planning to pursue their career past their undergraduate, whether it be med school, pharmaceutical, dental, PT, PA, any of that. If you’re wanting to go into medical sciences, even if you want to go into a research position down the road, our goal is to get you there,” Partridge said.
Getting into graduate schools has become increasingly competitive in recent years. GEMS offers application help, resume workshops and mock interviews to give their fellow Mavs a leg up on the competition.
“We really want to help CMU students have that edge that they wouldn’t get at other schools,” Partridge said.
GEMS also pushes for community involvement. “We’re not only trying to better our students as they become applicants for their future careers, but we’re also trying to give back to our community,” Partridge said.
Students interested in joining GEMS are encouraged to join their Facebook page, where up-to-date information is supplied about meetings, as well as internship, volunteer and workshop opportunities. Partridge also suggested joining their OrgSync page, which is used to track membership and attendance at events.
“We meet every other Wednesday,” Partridge said. “Check us out. We’re fun.”