Alpha Omega Alpha
Alpha Omega Alpha, founded in 1902, is the national medical honor society.
Alpha Omega Alpha — dedicated to the belief that in the profession of medicine we will improve care for all by recognizing high educational achievement, honoring gifted teaching, encouraging the development of leaders in academia and the community, supporting the ideals of humanism, and promoting service to others.
Election to Alpha Omega Alpha is an honor signifying a lasting commitment to scholarship, leadership, professionalism, and service. A lifelong honor, membership in the society confers recognition for a physician's dedication to the profession and art of healing.
Criteria for election to Alpha Omega Alpha are detailed in the Constitution. About 3000 students, alumni, house staff, and faculty are elected each year. Since its founding in 1902, more than 150,000 members have been elected to the society. Criteria for selection are below:
JUNIOR AOA
The top 8 students of the class, based on class rank after the MS1 and MS2 years, are selected for Junior AOA. As these students are selected Soley based on class rank, an application is not required.
SENIOR AOA
The top 30% of students of the class, based on class rank after the MS1, MS2, and MS3 years, are sent an invitation to apply for Senior AOA in early July. Applications are due by the end of July/early August. Application are evaluated in August so that students selected for Senior AOA are notified prior to the ERAS submission date.
ELECTION PROTOCOL: OVERVIEW
Applications will be evaluated based on two categories: 1) Academics and 2) CV. Academics will comprise 60% of each candidate’s total score, and the CV portion will comprise the remaining 40%. CVs are evaluated by current AOA members, including faculty and junior AOA members who did not participate in deidentifying applications. The weight of CV portion of the application has been increased compared to historical grading to allow for candidates to express their qualifications in ways that may not be reflected purely in test-taking ability.
SCORING
1) Academics will be scored based on the class rank. Class rank is based on performance in the MS1, MS2, and MS3 years. USMLE exam scores are not utilized in determining class rank; therefore, they have no weight in AOA applicant selection. The student with a class rank of 1 will be given a score of 60, class rank of 2 will be given a score of 59, class rank of 3 will be given a score of 58, etc.
2) CVs will be evaluated based on the following three subcategories: a) leadership, b) research, and c) community service. Each individual subcategory will be scored 0-40. The total score for the CV will be the average score among each subcategory. Scoring metrics are as follows:
Outstanding: 40 points
Above Average: 25 points
Average:15 points
Below Average: 5 points
Unfilled: 0 points (Note: a score of ‘0’ is automatically given to subcategories without any activities listed.)
MINIMIZING BIAS:
The following steps will be taken to reduce bias and evaluate each section of the CV objectively:
Applications will be assigned a random number and deidentified. Identifying information will be scrubbed by designated Junior AOA members. Junior AOA members who deidentify information are not allowed to participate in CV scoring.
Deidentified applications will be evaluated after being separated into subcategories (leadership, research, community service) and each applicant will be randomized. For example, the leadership section of all evaluated in random applicant order. Once the leadership portions have been evaluated, the research portion of every CV will be evaluated in random applicant order. Finally, the community service portion of every CV will be evaluated in random applicant order.
FINAL RANKING:
A composite score will be calculated by adding the Academics score and the averaged CV score with a max score of 100 (60 for Academics and 40 for CV). Overall, the top 20% of the class based on this composite score will be inducted into UAB's AOA chapter. The Junior AOA members (n=8) have already been inducted, and the remainder will come from the Senior AOA election process. Senior AOA inductees will be notified of their induction prior to the ERAS submission date.
Posts by Alpha Omega Alpha
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