Friendly competition was on the agenda during today’s inaugural MPOWER Trophy Cup Tournament held at the Student-Alumni Center.
The competition pitted medical students from each of the MPOWER learning community houses against one another through athletic competition to take home bragging rights and the coveted MPOWER Trophy Cup.
The MPOWER houses – Conyers-York House, Crawford House, Diggs House, and Seddon House – are named after notable UTHSC alumni and faculty. Students competed in a three-point basketball tournament, dodgeball, tug-of-war, a scrub relay, a human Hungry Hippo game, and obstacle courses. The event also featured food trucks, inflatables, a DJ, and was open to all medical students.
Students have been planning the event since January. It began as a party, transitioned into a field day, and eventually evolved into the trophy cup tournament. “We wanted an end-of-year party, but also something where we could have some healthy competition. This event builds camaraderie and community and it’s also a way to celebrate the end of the year,” said Madeline Johnson, first-year medical student and MPOWER Trophy Cup planning committee member.
Launched last year, MPOWER assigns entering medical students to a learning community that will follow them from orientation to graduation, fostering academic excellence by exploring six dimensions of wellness — occupational, physical, social, intellectual, spiritual, and emotional. The learning communities or houses are focused on providing students with resources for mentorship, wellness, professionalism, and research.
“I think the mentor aspect is really nice and having M2 and M3 students as a resource has been really helpful as well,” said Thomas Iorio a first-year medical student and member of the Diggs House.
A member of Crawford House, Hannah Russell a first-year medical student, will do research this summer on pediatric allergy. She met her research mentor, a local physician, through MPOWER. “It’s nice to have a physician who has gone through what you are going through and who is rooting for you,” she said.
The Diggs House was victorious and awarded the MPOWER Trophy Cup with a final score of 68 points.