To most people, the FDA is known as the Food and Drug Administration, but at the school, it’s the Future Doctors of America Club, which was started this year.

The club, founded by sophomore co-presidents Tina Chen and Reena Shah, aims to prepare students who are looking to enter the medical profession. Students have the chance to learn more about particular fields, work with local doctors at El Camino, Stanford and Kaiser Hospitals and find out what working in the medical profession really entails.

Both presidents and some of the club’s board members currently volunteer and work in all three of these locations, including the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and with the elderly.

Many freshmen and sophomores have become active members of this club and currently make up the vast majority of its members; there are a few upperclassmen. According to the club’s co-presidents, this isn’t a bad thing. Co-president Reena hopes that “as the years go by, [the] club will expand.”

The club its board members (nominated at the beginning of the year by the co-presidents and approved by the other members) have set a list of five goals that they are trying to run their meetings and club by. Four of these goals are educationally focused, in hopes that the club members can learn valuable medical information from the group.

The co-presidents said they aim to “inform the students of ways to get involved to learn more about the medical profession.”

The club’s fifth and final goal is to create some sort of project or fundraiser in order to donate to various organizations at the end of the year. Currently, the club is considering the Breast Cancer Awareness fund or generally assisting those affected by the recent Southern California wildfires.

At the end of the official, business part of most meetings, the floor is opened up to the members, who can ask questions or make comments on things the club has accomplished. Students also have the chance to ask about job and volunteering opportunities within our community.

Because this is a nationally established club, with groups at many other high schools in the area, it will have a foothold they can build off of. Gunn High School’s division of the FDA club meets every week and is almost six times as large as the Los Altos chapter.

The school’s FDA chapter, though starting off small this year, has big ambitions for the future. And although they would like to grow and expand, their first priority is to assist others interested in the medical profession.

“Lots of people want to be doctors, and many people want to go to med school,” Reena said. “All we want to do is provide helpful information for them.”

Any student hoping to learn more about the club and how to become an active member can come to room 702 during lunch every other Friday or contact Reena, Tina, or club adviser and science teacher Danielle Paige.