American Medical Student Association (AMSA)

The American Medical Student Association (AMSA) is a student-run national organization dedicated to representing the specific concerns of medical students. AMSA advocates policy reform at the national level through political activism and also encourages grass-roots activism within each of its local chapters. Through its interest groups and awareness weeks, AMSA members from around the country come together and focus on specific medical issues, including medical education, health policy, and community and public health.

The WUSM chapter of AMSA is active on both the national and local levels. We support a number of local projects and are always looking for new ideas. Our local chapter projects include:

• Alternative Medicine — Educates medical students about non-allopathic medicine through informal lunch seminars examining current literature. Past activities have included compiling information in a reference manual for use in future practice.
• Primary Care Interest Group — Introduces students to various aspects of primary care by shadowing physicians and through informal seminars with practitioners. Other activities include national involvement with programs such as National Primary Care Week.
• LGBTQ Health — Provides a series of lunch talks, discussions and workshops to increase awareness of health disparities in LGBTQ communities and knowledge of local health resources for LGBTQ people.
• Just Medicine Week — Provides a series of lunch talks and events to discuss the role of the pharmaceutical industry in sharing medical education and the practice of modern medicine.
• National and Regional Conferences — Offer multiple opportunities for medical students to hear from national policy leaders, to play an active role in sharing AMSA policy, and to meet other students.

Contact

Ruple Jairath: j.ruple@wustl.edu