Students looking to stay informed on current medical news can now join the new Current Events in Health and Medicine Student Organization. The organization holds discussions on current events pertaining to health and medicine aiming to spread awareness and understanding.

The organization’s president, Gabrielle Gappy, a pre-med student at OU, created the organization to get involved in the campus community.

“So I first came up with the idea [for the organization] at the beginning of the semester around September,” Gappy said. “I had thought of different things that I could do in the summer, but ultimately this is what I chose to go with. I’ve always wanted to be involved with student organizations and create one, so I really wanted to think about what mattered the most to me — this is what ended up happening. It became official around the end of October.”

Another reason for the club’s formation was the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Gappy cited the constant coverage of the pandemic and confusion surrounding it as another factor that helped her choose which organization idea of hers to fulfill.

At meetings, the members discuss the latest medical news, such as the Astroworld Tragedy and how to deal with a crowd surge, or how certain people might be more susceptible to losing their taste when infected with COVID-19. The group also plans on inviting speakers from the medical field to hold talks at meetings. One speaker the organization is going to invite is their advisor Dr. Florence Dallow, an epidemiologist.

According to Gappy, their next meeting is the perfect time for new members to join.

“We’re planning on having a meeting very soon. This will just be an introductory meeting where we talk about plans for the semester. We’re going to start with Zoom, and then if things get better [COVID-19 wise], we can hopefully transition to in-person,” Gappy said.

While the organization is geared toward those planning to enter the medical field, anyone is invited to join.

“I feel as if people who want to enter health care fields would be drawn to this club, but it’s really for anyone who’s interested in current events in health,” Gappy said. “We’re pretty low on members right now. It’s been hard, I haven’t been on campus in a very long time. I wanted to go to GrizzFest this winter but it was sadly canceled.  [Things like that happen] —where we plan on going out and advertising, and then COVID-19 [or other things] get in the way”

If you would like to join the Current Events in Health and Medicine organization, you can find out more information about the club and contact Gappy through their GrizzOrgs page for information regarding future meetings.