GSA Student Affairs

Message from the Chair

Lauren Cobbs, MD, MEd, FACP, ACC
Senior Associate Dean for Student Affairs 
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine 

It is an immense honor to serve as National Chair for the Committee on Student Affairs (COSA), a vibrant and committed community of Student Affairs professionals dedicated to supporting the education, development, and well-being of medical learners. Over the course of my academic medicine career, I have been fortunate to serve in varied roles across the medical education continuum – engaging with learners, faculty, and professional team members whose collective efforts shape the physician workforce of the future. These experiences have solidified my belief in the essential role Student Affairs plays in ensuring medical students are supported, guided, and empowered throughout their training.

Whether new to Student Affairs or a seasoned professional, COSA is a community rooted in advocacy – advocacy for your students, your work, and the processes, structures, and systems that allow us to fulfill our shared mission. More than 15 years into my own Student Affairs journey, I continue to learn from, lean on, and be supported by so many within the COSA community. It is this spirit of shared purpose and genuine connection that makes COSA such an important home for professional collaboration, innovation, and growth.

We work within a medical education landscape that is interesting, challenging, and undeniably fast-moving. COSA is one of the national spaces where our collective voice can advocate for purposeful change. We move this work forward through a long-standing culture of collaboration, an ethos that aligns closely with my own leadership philosophy, which is grounded in three interconnected principles: good-faith collaboration, which seeks authentic “meetings of the minds” even without universal agreement; advocacy, which values speaking up when we have something meaningful to contribute; and flexibility, recognizing there can be many viable paths to achieving a meaningful outcome.

COSA exists to listen deeply, understand the realities you face, and gather information that sparks problem-solving, new initiatives, and thoughtful improvements. National COSA engagement continues to focus on fostering and strengthening trust across the transition-to-residency process and improving access to and transparency around the information students and advisors rely upon as they navigate UME and GME application processes. National Group on Student Affairs (GSA) leadership has also articulated four key priorities for 2025 - 2026: Access for ALL applicants to information and resources; Opportunity for community scholarship and wellness, AI innovation across the continuum and student promotion and support; Transformation of MSPEs, away rotations, and the residency application process; and Advocacy for comprehensive medical education finance at state/federal levels and community need-driven access to care.

As we continue this important work, I hold close two essential truths: communication is key to the impact and effectiveness of COSA, and the heart of Student Affairs lies in the dedicated individuals who choose this very unique work – authentically sharing in both the celebrations and challenges experienced by the students we serve. I am truly looking forward to leading COSA, representing and engaging with you as we focus our efforts on initiatives that meaningfully support you and your learners. In the years ahead, we will continue finding opportunities to foster mentorship, promote professional growth, and strengthen our community.