Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Student Honor Society October 23, 2013 Regina Gandour-Edwards, M.D. Councilor
AOA or AΩA Medical honor society for US and Canada Founded 1902 U Illinois by medical students to promote improvement of scholastic standards and to advance the profession In 1902, medical education was a largely unregulated apprenticeship model of varying quality. Flexner report 1910
Alpha Omega Alpha Greek alphabet..beginning end beginning letters, signifying scope of medicine Motto “Worthy to Serve the Suffering” 124 medical school chapters
AΩA’s founding, University of Illinois
Members Medical Students Residents and Fellows Alumni Faculty
Student Selection National Standards Eligible –Top 25 Percent of Class Election –One Sixth of Class –Scholastic Achievement –Leadership, Fairness, Compassion, Integrity, Service Recommended 6% during Junior year and remainder Senior Year
UC Davis SOM Student Selection USMLE Step One score as surrogate for academic achievement in Year 1 and 2 Best marker in a pass/fail system (?) Honors in the six required Year Three Clerkships i.e. Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Surgery, Obstetric Gynecology, Pediatrics, Psychiatry Generates a composite score for top 25% Closed meetings for election
UC Davis SOM Student Selection February : Select 6 (6%) from the Year Three Class. Will have 3 clerkship grades. Select up to 3 Housestaff and 2 Faculty and/or 1 Alumnus. August: Select remainder of Class (now 4 th years) for 17%. Have all clerkship grades.
Value National recognition Assist in residency applications Responsibility to provide service to school during busy Year 4. Educational and service projects
A A Programs PHAROS Magazine Visiting Professorships Student Research Fellowships ($$) Student Essay and Poetry Contests ($) Leaders in American Medicine ($$$)
The Pharos lighthouse of Alexandria Magazine featuring essays, poems, artwork relative to medicine
AOA Student Members Class of 2014 David Anderson, Elizabeth Brezninski, Alex Buss, Whitney Fisk, Jacob Gire, Tsung-Yen Hsieh, Christina Kinnevey, Kristopher Klem, Andrew Meyers, Erin Meierhenry, Nicoloas Prionas, Andrew Rong, Phillip Summers, Greg Westin, Stephanie Wong, Simon Wu
Questions?