The UW Chapter’s Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) Honor Medical Society spring ‘Junior’ election will be held in mid-April. Below you can find some information about the chapter and the nomination and election processes. Please be sure to review it carefully if this organization is of interest to you.
Election Action Items:
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What is AOA?
AOA is a national medical honor society in which election is based on a commitment to scholarship, leadership, professionalism, and service. There are 123 chapters around the country. Each year, approximately 3,000 students, alumni, residents, and faculty are elected into the society. You can learn more about the organization on the national AOA website or on the UW Chapter of AOA website.
What is the process for being elected to AOA?
The UW chapter hosts two elections – one in the spring (“Junior AOA”) and one in the fall (“Senior AOA”).
Students are considered for AOA using a number of criteria:
- Academic performance
- Service, activities, and involvement
- Research and publications
- Lived experiences statement
- You may elicit 1 nomination from a peer, a Patient Care clerkship director (including WRITE), the MD/PhD program, College mentor, faculty, resident, or other appropriate individual. They can submit their nomination via this form.
The selection process is done by the current AOA chapter members. To reduce bias, the election materials are blinded for chapter review. Name are only revealed after all the votes are in. In order to ensure that chapter members are not exposed to identifying information to chapter members during the application/nomination process, Student Affairs staff collect and compile the data that the chapter requests on their behalf.
How many people will be elected?
Up to 20% of the rising MS4 class may be selected for membership.
During the spring election, the current AOA chapter will elect a small group of students will be selected (~7-15 students). These members will then elect the remaining members during the fall election (~35-45 students).
Who is eligible for consideration?
Students are eligible for AOA if they are in the top 25 percent of the class. Students are considered once for junior AOA and once for senior AOA. Students who are expanding/taking a leave of absence will be considered for junior AOA during the spring that they complete Patient Care phase and are considered for senior AOA during the fall of their final year in medical school. Students who expand are not considered additional times.
In the spring election of MS3 students, eligible students are those who have earned a high percentage of honors and high passes in the required Patient Care clerkships that they have completed to date. They also must not have been considered for any prior years’ junior AOA elections. Students may have up to one failure across any academic domain, including threads, themes, blocks, FCM, Step 1, clerkship grades, etc. Shelf exam failures will not be included in the formal inclusion/exclusion criteria.
How can I submit my application in order to be considered by AOA?
To be considered for AOA, students must complete the required AOA Application by Tuesday, March 31 at 10:45 p.m. AK, 11:45 p.m. PT, 12:45 a.m. Wednesday MT – NO late submissions will be accepted. Contained within the application are the grade release authorization*, the lived experiences statement, service and activities, and research and publications. You DO NOT need to update/add information to a separate service tracker survey for AOA election purposes.
*AOA considers student academic information through a blind election process. When the group reviews candidates, your name is not linked to your application/profile/grades.
How do I know if I am selected for AOA?
Elected students will be contacted by AOA chapter leadership within 3 business days of the election, and an announcement will be made in the Thursday all-school newsletter after all new members are notified (estimated to be April 16 or 23).