UT-Houston Delta Chapter Alpha Omega Alpha

Medical Honor Society

WHAT IS AOA?

• The National Medical Honor Society in US and Canada o National headquarters is in Palo Alto, CA

• Founded in 1902 at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Chicago by William Webster Root

• Currently 120 Active Chapters and 3 Associations o AOA chapters in all but a few medical schools

• UT-Houston AOA Chapter is the Delta chapter in Texas

AOA MISSION STATEMENT

• Alpha Omega Alpha — dedicated to the belief that in the profession of medicine we will improve care for all by

o Recognizing high educational achievement

o Honoring gifted teaching

o Encouraging the development of leaders in academia and the community

o Supporting the ideals of humanism

o Promoting service to others.

WHAT DOES AOA DO? • Nationally, Alpha Omega Alpha sponsors several

programs, including: o Carolyn L. Kuckein Student Research Fellowships - a research

fellowship that provides $3,000 to a student and $500 to his/her faculty mentor

o Helen H. Glaser Student Essay Awards and The Pharos Poetry Competition

o Medical Student Service Project Awards

o Annual Volunteer Clinical Faculty Award

o Senior AOA Banquet

o And a whole lot more!

WHAT IS MEMBERSHIP BASED ON?

• Candidates must demonstrate:

o Scholarship o Strength of character

leadership among peers professionalism and a firm sense of ethics promise of future success in medicine commitment to service in the school and community

HOW ARE STUDENTS ELECTED TO AOA? • July - MS IV’s who meet the minimum requirements are notified

by email to submit a standard CV o Research experience

o Publications

o Medical School activities

o Awards during Medical School

o Community service during Medical School

o Additional relevant activities or contributions

• Up to one-sixth of a graduating class may be elected to membership

o In August 2014, 38 students were elected to AOA

WHEN ARE STUDENTS ELECTED TO AOA?

• Early August - Faculty AOA members review: 1. Grades

2. Submitted CV form

3. Bluebook

• Mid August - Executive Committee reviews candidates submitted by AOA Faculty

• Late August - Chapter members meet and vote

WHEN DOES ELECTION TAKE PLACE?

• Election results announced to members before September 1 so membership can be listed on residency applications

Note: September 15th is the earliest date to submit the residency application for the majority or specialties

HOW IS THE TOP ONE-SIXTH OF A CLASS DETERMINED SINCE UT-H DOES NOT HAVE CLASS RANK?

• Minimum requirements for consideration = six Honors grades in years 1-3 (Honors required in both 1st 2 yrs and in 3rd year)

• Honors grades are then weighted by: o Course hours during 1st and 2nd year

i.e. Honors in Biochem > Honors in Genetics

o Length of course during 3rd year i.e. Honors in 6 wk clerkship > Honors in 4 wk clerkship

MD/PhD or MD/MPH students are considered in their MS IV year

• After calculating the total number of points each student received for his/her total number of Honors weighted by course length, a “rank list” is developed

• Research and extracurriculars are particularly important for those students nearing the “cut-off” point of the top 1/6 of the class o For example, if there is a tie for the last place within the 1/6 limit and one

student has NO extracurriculars and the other has been involved in research/volunteer activities/etc, then the latter may be chosen

o *There has been discussion about developing a point system for extracurricular activities; however, this has not happened yet

HOW IS THE TOP ONE-SIXTH OF A CLASS DETERMINED SINCE UT-H DOES NOT HAVE CLASS RANK?

AOA CLASS OF 2015 (MS 4’S) • New members: 38 students

• Total number of Honors: 17 – 26

Specialties represented in

AOA 2014 Graduating Class o Anesthesiology (1)

o Internal Medicine (5)

o Family Medicine (1)

o Dermatology (5)

o Radiology (6)

o ENT (2)

o Orthopedics (3)

o Pathology (1)

o General Surgery (1)

o Neurosurgery (1)

o Pediatrics (2)

o Ob-Gyn (1)

o Med-Peds (1)

o Neurology (1)

o Emergency Med (5)

o Urology (3)

NEED MORE INFORMATION?

Eugene Boisaubin, M.D. Chapter Councilor UT faculty advisor

Amy Alexander, MS IV Chad Thompson, MS IV

Student Co-Presidents

Office of Student Affairs

AOA Website: www.alphaomegaalpha.org