The Advising Center hosted the fourth annual “The Battle of the Brains” event on Sunday, April 7, which consisted of several clubs and organizations competing to see who is the most “well rounded” pre-health organization of 2019.

Organizations who participated at the event included MedLife, Phi Delta Epsilon, Alpha Epsilon Delta, Pre-Dental Society, Pre Physician Assistant Club, American Medical Student Association. AMSA won and the team received a trophy and a wall-plaque.

“I’m super excited we’ve been doing this three-four years now and this is the first time we’ve won. I think this event was fun because you get to answer questions from things you don’t take classes on in medical school,” said AMSA member Rachel Rezaei. “The AMSA is a pre-med club on campus and basically, we are here to direct members to help them get involved into the community. Our biggest event of the year is the Heart and Sole 5k, where we raise money for UNR student outreach clinic.”

Derek Furukawa, Assistant Vice Provost of Undergraduate Academic Advising and Student Achievement said the event was created to promote scholarly achievement and to help students develop a worldly mindset as future health professionals. Furukawa mentioned he does not think grade point averages and test scores determine if students are accepted into a medical school. He believes students testing in other knowledge is just as important.

“I think it’s good to bring organizations together because we are all in this school but we don’t often interact with each other like that,” MedLife member Nicole Paiva said.

Another MedLife member, Jared Tsuchiyama-Sandon mentioned this trivia game can help pre-med students on their interviewing skills to ensure they know background information.

The trivia game was styled similarly to Jeopardy. There were ten categories with ten questions in each, which are divided into two rounds. Each organization could have up to six members competing. Every round, three members were able to collaborate with each other to decide an answer. The team members rotated after the first round. At the end of the rounds, scores were added together to determine who won. The 2019 categories included Pop Music and Culture, War and Peace, Food Travel Destinations, People Who Need People (Sociology), Famous Nevadans, Genetics and Evolution, I Do Have Class, Finish That Vine, Diversity Contributors in Healthcare, Sound, Mind and Body.

Last year, AMSO, Pre-PA Club, MEDLife, Alpha Epsilon Delta, The Nevada Pre-Dental Society and Phi Delta Epsilon competed and the Pre Physician Assistant Club won. The 2018 categories included, Anatomy & Physiology, International Affairs, Climate Change, Around the World With an Appetite, Nevada Firsts, Cooking Methods, Winter Olympics 2018, Natural Remedies and Alternative Medicine, To Wear or Not to Wear and Finish the Song Lyrics en Español.

Taylor Johnson can be reached at tjohnson@sagebrush.unr.edu or on Twitter @NevadaSagebrush