College of Medicine student joins national journal’s advisory board

The American Academy of Family Physicians Board of Directors appointed Christal Clemens, a fourth-year student at the Central Michigan University College of Medicine, as the student member to the Editorial Advisory Board of the journal Annals of Family Medicine. She is the first CMU College of Medicine student to receive this honor and will serve a one-year term beginning Oct. 1.

Annals of Family Medicine is AAFP's peer-reviewed clinical research journal dedicated to advancing knowledge essential to understanding and improving health and primary care, areas at the core of Clemens' future. "I see community health research as part of my career as a family physician," said Clemens. "Research has been a longtime passion of mine because of its impact on patient care, guidelines and outcomes.
I'm excited to be part of advancing primary care knowledge and understanding at a national level."

Initially attracted to the College of Medicine because of the focus on primary care for underserved rural and urban populations, Clemens says the College of Medicine's supportive and collaborative atmosphere combined with research opportunities and clinical rotations prepared her for her career and for service to her profession.

Clemens' research at CMU includes projects in psychiatry and obstetrics/gynecology. With training in reviewing research articles and identifying areas of improvement, she has worked in both bench and clinical research settings. She also holds research experience through internships at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Mayo Clinic and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

At the state level, she is the student member on the 2020-21 Board of Trustees of Family Medicine Foundation of Michigan, the Michigan Academy of Family Physicians' philanthropic arm.