Students Raise Funds, Awareness for PEDS Service Learning, Community Programs

Twenty-six BUSM students participated in the 27th Annual Rodman Ride for Kids held Sept. 23. Team BUSM raised more than $10K and the proceeds will support pediatric medical education, service learning initiatives and activities of the Pediatric Interest Group. Specifically, a large portion of the money will go toward funding three 2018 summer interns in the Child Health and Advocacy Program (CHAP), a program that enables MS1s to identify a BMC mentor and develop a child health-based project.

“As medical students, especially during our pre-clinical years, opportunities to have an impact in our community come largely from involvement in student-organized service learning groups. In these groups we serve as mentors, instructors and more importantly, role models to children and young adults in the Boston area. The money we raise through the Rodman ride allows us to provide funding to these groups to continue providing and expanding the opportunities for these kids to learn, grow and make healthy choices with their lives. Additionally, I hope the funding will lead to more chances for my classmates to explore careers and specialties in pediatrics,” 2017 Team Captain Sean Perez.

The ride begins and ends in Foxboro, approximately 30 miles from the Medical Campus. The students rented a U-Haul trailer to transport their bikes from the Campus to the starting line. “It was a lot like playing Tetris, as the bikes took up every inch of space,” said Perez. All class years were represented on the team, although the majority were first- and second-year students. The participants are members of the PEDS Interest Group, which is led by Karen Cuttin, Lauren Dzera and Sean Perez.

The team held many fundraising events throughout the summer and has planned more events that will continue until the fundraising window closes on Nov. 20. Learn more about the BUSM Team. See more photos on Facebook.