by Joy Bowick, Public Relations

The American Medical Student Association (AMSA) elected Bradley Deal, medical student, national president for the coming up year.

Deal said that he first became involved with the local AMSA chapter during his first year of medical school. He credits his involvement to a friend and role-model from Fort Mill, Laura Wieland LeBel, M.D. She was the MUSC AMSA chapter co-president and told Deal about the organization and the leadership position of first-year class liaison.

It was on his first national convention trip in San Francisco in 1995 that Deal said that he fell in love with the members and mission of AMSA. He was elected local president and returned from his trip with a renewed dedication and a determination to make the MUSC chapter as successful as possible.

Deal has held a number of positions with the AMSA, including board of trustees member, national treasurer and national president.

Deal was born in Tega Cay, S.C., but a short time later moved to Fort Mill, and remained there until his senior year in high school, when he moved to Fort Lauderdale. He received a bachelor of arts in psychology from Columbia University in New York in 1994.

Deal will graduate on May 15. He will spend one year as the national president of the AMSA, and then plans to begin a five-year combined Pediatric Emergency Medicine Residency.

"The friendliness of people here is something I cherish and will certainly miss next year in Washington D.C. As the AMSA national president, I plan to serve as an ambassador for MUSC and South Carolina to the rest of the country to share some of the secrets that make this place so special," said Deal.