LMSA Programming

LMSA and its regions host at least six conferences each academic year. Each event is geared towards empowering attendees to excel as trainees and healthcare professionals for the betterment of their patients and communities. These events also enable attendees to engage with renowned speakers and experts in medicine, as well as with medical school peers from across the United States. Moreover, our conferences foster interactions between attendees and representatives from educational institutions, increasing attendee exposure to opportunities for career advancement.

Specifically, LMSA National organizes its annual Health Policy Summit in October each year. LMSA has had the privilege of working closely with the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) to host successful Summits since 2017. LMSA National also oversees the execution of the LMSA National Conference, the organization’s largest event of the year; more information is provided below.

The five LMSA regions host individual regional conferences, with one region hosting a joint regional and national conference. While the host of the National Conference rotates each year, the event routinely brings over 300 premedical and medical students together to think critically about pressing issues facing Hispanic patients and providers in the US. Please refer to our events calendar and to our dedicated event pages to learn more about all our LMSA conferences.

In addition to these flagship events, LMSA develops a broad range of program initiatives to provide support and foster community throughout the year. Please refer to our Latest Updates page for the most recent insights into how LMSA promotes the success of America’s future healthcare workers.

A Brief History of NNLAMS, LMSA, and the National Conference

In 2003, five regional Hispanic/Latino medical student organizations formed a consortium that was incorporated as a national non-profit medical student organization called the National Network of Latin American Medical Students (NNLAMS). In 2006, NNLAMS held its first Annual National Conference in partnership with the National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA). Since that time, the NNLAMS Executive Board of Directors and its leadership systematically prepared the organization to launch its own independent Annual National Conference. In 2009, the NNLAMS Executive Board of Directors unanimously voted in favor of an independent National Conference for March 4-7, 2010 held at the University of Illinois at Chicago. This was also the first year that all five regions were unified under one common name, the Latino Medical Student Association.

  • 1st Annual National Conference – March 2006 – Washington, DC
  • 2nd Annual National Conference – March 2007 – San Antonio, TX
  • 3rd Annual National Conference – March 2008 – Washington, DC
  • 4th Annual National Conference – March 2009 – Brooklyn, NY “Tomorrow’s Doctors: leading advocacy and activism in medicine“
  • 5th Annual National Conference – March 2010 – Chicago, IL “A United Voice”
  • 6th Annual National Conference – April 2011 – Irvine, CA “Uniting our Voices for Justice in Healthcare“
  • 7th Annual National Conference – February 2012 – Boston, MA “Nuestro Futuro, En Nuestras Manos: Empowering the Next Generation“
  • 8th Annual National Conference – March 2013 – Miami, FL “Tomando Accíon (Taking Action): Ensuring Health Equity for All“
  • 9th Annual National Conference – April 2014- Houston, TX “Creciendo Juntos: Improving Health Care for and by Latinos.”
  • 10th Annual National Conference – April 2015- Cleveland, OH “Llegamos, seguimos: Celebrating a decade of progress.”
  • 11th Annual National Conference and the 32nd Annual West Regional Conference – April 2016 – Pomona, CA “Prevenir es Curar: Addressing New Obstacles & Improving Healthcare in our Communities”
  • 12th Annual National Conference and the 44th Annual Northeast Regional Conference – April 2017 – Hempstead, NY “¡Aquí Estamos! Our Journey and the Climb to Greater Heights” 
  • 13th Annual National Conference and the 10th Southeast Regional Conference – April 2018 – Miami, FL “Siempre Unidos: Celebrating Diversity and Bridging the Gap”
  • 14th Annual National Conference and the 7th Southwest Regional Conference – March 2019 – Lubbock, TX – “Todos Tenemos Valor: Building Solidarity through Healthcare”
  • 15th Annual National Conference and the 30th Annual Midwest Regional Conference – March 2020 – St. Louis, MO – “Unidos por Medicina y Más: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Latinx Health”
  • 16th Annual National Conference – March 2021 – “Potenciar El Cambio: Creating Interconnection in Healthcare to Create Change”
  • 17th Annual National Conference – March 2022 – “Cincuenta Años de Comunidad: Fostering Service, Health Equity & Leadership”
  • 18th Annual National Conference – September 2023 – “Salud y Justicia: Fighting for Safety, Equity and Human Rights”