Leadership Beyond the Classroom KMA ‘Lunch and Learn’ Sessions ProvideHealth Care Insights to Medical Students Classes in medical school focus primarily on the clinical nature of medicine. Leadership training goes beyond that.“The medical school curriculum does not include lessons on the public policies that will affect us in the future,” said Megan Rajagopal, a third year medical student at the University of Kentucky who serves as the Medical Student Section representative on KMA’s Board. “It is helpful for students to be involved in KMA because it gives us a chance to learn about laws and advocacy that will have a direct impact on our careers.”Rajagopal is an active participant in KMA.  In addition to her service on the Board, she  will serve as the University of Kentucky’s MSS delegate to the 2016 KMA Annual Meeting. She also attended the AMA Annual Meeting two years ago.The Kentucky Medical Association’s new leadership program—Medical Student Outreach and Leadership Program—gives them the chance to do just that. Part of the MSOL Program’s requirements include attendance at a series of “Lunch and Learn” presentations aimed at helping medical students prepare for the challenges facing them in their professional careers.Throughout the year, KMA representatives met with medical students from both UK and the University of Louisville to conduct a series of four educational seminars at each university.  Seminar topics included political, social and economic issues in the health care system.Specifically, KMA staff provided an overview of the medical industry, health and marketplace in Kentucky; an overview of the legislative process, along with information on the importance of state legislative activity for medical students, residents and practicing physicians; an overview of the health care finance system, including the basics of Medicare, Medicaid and physician reimbursement for services; and an overview of employment contracting issues.“The KMA-sponsored Lunch and Learn talks were incredibly helpful to medical students,” said Melinda Ruberg, a medical student at the University of Louisville who recently finished her term as KMA’s MSS president. “In the first two years of medical school, we live in a bubble mostly comprised of the library and the classroom. These talks were a nice reminder that medicine exists outside of the classroom, and that we needed to be thinking on a larger scale than just lines of text.”“A lot of the topics presented were concepts that we were always wondering about, but were too busy to go looking for ourselves. Having a neutral party who absolutely knew what they were talking about was extremely valuable to us,” Ruberg said.The Kentucky Foundation for Medical Care will sponsor the second year of the KMA “Lunch and Learn” series of talks, as well as the Medical Student Outreach and Leadership Program.