Complimentary AOA membership for students!
All osteopathic medical students receive complimentary membership to the AOA. Not sure if you have been enrolled yet? First-year students can activate their AOA memberships online. 

Take advantage of AOA resources and benefits: get involved with political advocacy, including attending DO Day on Capitol Hill; apply to serve on an AOA bureau, council or committee; find a DO mentor in a specific state or specialty through the iLearn program; or check out the student resource guide Tips, Tactics, and Truths: Making the Most of Your Osteopathic Medical Education (PDF 972K).

Be sure you’re staying up to date on the latest developments with the AOA and the rest of the osteopathic family through the AOA Daily Report and President’s Blog. Also, find us online and network with other members of the osteopathic family on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and the AOA's YouTube channel. Visit Student Resources to learn more.

Stay in touch with the AOA
As you complete your osteopathic medical education, be sure to keep your contact information up to date. This is the best way to ensure you stay in touch with the AOA and are able to access all of the resources and benefits that we offer the osteopathic family. Log in to the Member Service Center section of DO-Online to update your contact information. You can also contact the Member Service Center at (800) 621-1773, option 1, or msc@osteopathic.org.

Opportunities for Students

The AOA Bureau of Osteopathic History and Identity is conducting its sixth annual history essay competition. With $10,000 in prizes, the essay contest targets five core principles.

The 14th Annual National SOMA Research Symposium will take place this fall at the AOA’s 54th Annual Research Conference in San Francisco, California. Abstracts must be submitted by Monday, Aug. 23, 2010, at 11:59 p.m.

Apply to serve as a student representative to the AOA
Interested in being more involved with the osteopathic family and developing professional leadership skills? Apply to serve as a student representative on an AOA bureau, council or committee (B/C/C)! Contact the Division of Student, Intern, Resident & Member Affairs at sira@osteopathic.org for more information.   

DO Day on Capitol Hill is April 7, 2011!
Join the AOA in Washington, DC to lobby Members of Congress on the issues that are most important to the practice of osteopathic medicine. 

Resources for Students

Planning for Residency
Start planning for your future training now!  To help you prepare as a student, the Council of Interns and Residents Chair, Draion Burch, DO, has created a PowerPoint (1.5M) with tips you can start utilizing. You can search for AOA-approved internships and residency programs through the Opportunities database. Looking into different programs? Read about the experiences of other residents in the OGME Spotlight.

Global Health Council
Membership for the Global Health Council, the world's largest membership alliance dedicated to saving lives by improving health throughout the world is available to you for free. Add your voice to the fight for improved global health. Be sure to select the AOA as your affiliated organization. You can also review the list of membership benefits available to you when you join.
 

Worried about your financial future and how your student loan repayment may directly affect you during your residency? Know what kind of loan you have, your repayment objectives, the challenges and considerations and repayment plan options. View the materials from COSGP’s co-hosted program at AACOM’s 2010 Annual Meeting entitled: Student Financial Planning: “What Happens after I Graduate?”  The program was developed to provide osteopathic medical students a better grasp on what’s to come in the future and how to better understand your options to keep financially sound during your residency training. 

Indian Health Service Opportunities
After graduation from osteopathic medical school, serve American Indians and Alaska Natives through the Indian Health Service (IHS), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The IHS serves nearly two million people through a network of 49 hospitals and more than 230 clinics throughout 35 states. Learn more. Loan repayment is just one benefit of the IHS - you may qualify for up to $20,000 per year for the repayment of your loans. Award recipients agree to a two-year obligation to practice at an Indian health program site. View more information on the IHS Loan Repayment Program. If you are an American Indian or Alaska Native osteopathic medical student, you may qualify for the IHS Health Professions Scholarship Program; view more information.

COM Visits
Each year, the AOA President and President-Elect try to visit as many of the osteopathic medical school campuses as possible to both welcome you to the osteopathic family as well as personally address any concerns you may have. Visit the COM visits page for more information.

Student Highlight: SOMA Unity Project

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Thanks to a generous donation from the American Osteopathic Foundation, more than 60 SOMA members volunteered at the 2009 SOMA Unity Project at Give Kids the World Village Dec. 27-30, 2009, in Kissimmee, Fla. The main goal of the SOMA Unity Project is to unite osteopathic medical students from throughout the country to complete a service project. Students from 16 colleges of osteopathic medicine participated in the 2009 project. Read more about the Unity project.