AMA Foundation Student Ambassadors

Don't forget to enter the Annual AMA Foundation Sweepstakes fundraiser!

Entries can be submitted online here: https://secure2.convio.net/ama/site/Donation2;jsessionid=00000000.app202a?idb=0&df_id=1180&mfc_pref=T&1180.donation=form1&NONCE_TOKEN=AFA16B9AC6CB512D47A2C15286DDAD2C

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Venmo

On the role of philanthropy in accelerating biomedical research and our understanding of disease:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/eric-lander-and-louis-gerstner-private-money-pays-off-for-medicine-1407710070

Private Money Pays Off For Medicine In The Wall Street Journal, Eric S. Lander and Louis V. Gerstner write that public funding of health research is important, but passionate philanthropy is playing a crucial role.

Another medical student makes a difference teaching health literacy:

http://btn.com/2015/02/08/btn-livebig-rutgers-medical-student-offers-shining-example-of-service-learning/

BTN LiveBIG: Rutgers medical student offers shining example of service learning When she went to Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Janki Shah knew she wanted to go above and beyond the conventional academic path to make a difference in the lives of others. That drive led her to start the Women’s Health Literacy Project, an

Applications are now being accepted for the medical student representative on the AMA Foundation Board of Directors. The Board of Directors is composed of between 13 to 20 members, all of whom are leaders in health care and one of which is a student. However, given that much of the Foundation's activities center on supporting medical students, the medical student's input is particularly valued. It is a fantastic experience and we encourage all interested to apply. The term is 1 year and begins in June. You can download the application here: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/about-ama/our-people/member-groups-sections/medical-student-section/opportunities/national-leadership-positions.page?

National Leadership Positions Learn more about national-level MSS leadership opportunities.

Thank you to everyone that called in to our conference call. It was a pleasure speaking to you about some of the changes we would like to incorporate and to gain your valuable feedback. For those of you who were not able to attend, we have collected our talking points below to catch you up to speed:

What did the AMA Foundation Ambassadors program do in the past:
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Founded as a way to get medical students involved in the AMA Foundation. Ambassadors served as messengers for the Foundation’s philanthropic goals.
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Members called previous donors and shared their personal stories with them, asking them to consider donation. Last year, for the first time, the Ambassador program created a web page to help raise donations.

How are we planning to reform the Ambassadors program:
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To attract more AMA members to the student ambassadors program, and to inspire more students to be active in the AMA.
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To provide student ambassadors with more opportunities for leadership, and to build the program internally.
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To bring the program closer to the AMA-MSS as a whole.

What additions will be made to the Ambassadors program:
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Ambassador will be split into specialized committees: 1) Fundraising and Community Service, 2) Public Relations and Marketing, and 3)Events
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The Fundraising and Community Service committee will focus on Ambassador fundraising and community service efforts at local and national levels
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The Public Relations and Marketing committee will promote the ambassadors program at interim and annual conferences and improve recruitment to the program
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The Events committee will coordinate networking events for ambassadors at interim and annual meetings, as well as locally
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Chairs will be elected to guide efforts of the committee by holding meetings at least monthly to make sure that all tasks are met and fulfilled by the Annual and Interim meetings.
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Committee chairs will work closely with the foundation executive board, in particular the Ambassador Secretary, to coordinate efforts

Conclusions:
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Our main goals include making the ambassador program more rewarding for its members (particularly with regards to leadership development), extending the potential philanthropic benefit of the Ambassador program to the AMAF, and to expose more Student Ambassadors to the importance of philanthropy both for the betterment of the AMA as well as for the improvement of medical education and local communities.
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We hope to ensure our changes are sustainable and serve as a foundation for the Student Ambassadors' Program for many years to come.
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Please us if you are interested in leading or participating in a committee!

We hope to see you in Dallas at our lunch meeting on November 7th! We are also planning a meet-and-greet at interim exclusively for Ambassadors. Time and place is TBD, with more information to follow.