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Maryam Shambayati, TCOM ’12, was recently named Student of the Year by the Texas Medical Association (TMA) Medical Student Section. The recipient for this award is chosen each year by the TMA Medical Student Section council after students from every medical school in Texas submit nominations.

TCOM students nominated Shambayati for her involvement in different organizations. Last year she was elected to serve as the TCOM American Medical Association (AMA) delegate. In that position, she helped educate the student body about the current health care debate. Each semester she hosted seminars on health care reform and ran student caucuses to collect the students’ opinions on resolutions before each AMA conference. 

Shambayati testified on multiple resolutions, including one that opened up the Visiting Student Application Service to osteopathic students. This service, which was only available to allopathic medical students in the past, gives students across the U.S. access to an online database and application for their fourth-year rotation selections. Her testimony helped get this resolution passed and become an official AMA policy.

"I feel honored to be named Student of the Year," Shambayati said. "I hope this inspires other students to become more involved in health-care policy. There is so much more to medicine than what is learned in the classroom."

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