Unlocking Your Potential: The Benefits of AMA Student Membership
The American Medical Association (AMA) stands as the nation’s largest physician organization, a powerful ally in patient care. Representing physicians with a unified voice, the AMA drives the future of medicine, removes obstacles that interfere with patient care, and leads the charge to confront public health crises. For medical students, joining the AMA offers a wealth of advantages that can significantly impact their education, career prospects, and professional development.
The Power of the AMA: A Unified Voice for Physicians
Joining the nation’s largest physician organization has its advantages. The American Medical Association is your powerful ally in patient care. Your benefits stay with you throughout your membership, with no expiration dates or conditions. Supporting you today as a medical student.
Demonstrating Leadership and Enhancing Residency Applications
Demonstrating your leadership skills as a medical student is important for getting into top residencies. One of the more eye-catching ways to demonstrate your leadership skills as a medical student is to join an established and respected organization like the American Medical Association (AMA). The AMA is the largest professional association of physicians in the USA and has one of the top ten largest lobbying budgets of all US organizations. It has a large MSS (Medical Student Section) comprised of thousands of students separated into six regions based on the geographic location of their medical schools in the USA. There are several opportunities to take on leadership roles in the AMA and get involved with advocacy work.
Leadership Opportunities at the Local and National Levels
At the local level, you can run to become your medical school’s AMA representative. Some of your primary duties will be staying abreast of current developments in the AMA, representing your medical school at AMA meetings, and recruiting more medical students at your medical school to join AMA. At the national level, you can apply to become a student member on the AMA Board of Trustees (which leads the entire AMA), the AMA Foundation (which handles its philanthropic enterprises), or AMPAC (AMA’s political action committee). You can apply to be on the eight-person MSS Governing Council, which directs the MSS programs and activities at the national level.
Exclusive Access and Discounts
Even if you are not interested in actively engaging with all these opportunities, passively joining the AMA as a medical student has several perks. For instance, you get 30% off USMLE test prep (e.g., Kaplan). You also get complimentary access to FREIDA Online (the AMA Residency and Fellowship database) and the JAMA network (digital, print, and podcast media related to the Journal of the American Medical Association). You can also fill in the “Professional Association Membership” section of your CV with another well-known acronym. You need to pay $68 in membership dues to secure these base benefits for all four years of medical school.
Read also: Student Membership Perks
Resources for Medical Students
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Advocacy and Networking Opportunities
I first learned about the AMA when a classmate posted about an opportunity to go to an AMA conference in Washington, DC. This was the annual MARC (Medical Student Advocacy & Region Conference). This conference enabled me to meet with the offices of my senator and House representative on Capitol Hill and advocate for current issues on behalf of the AMA. I also got to attend talks and workshops that taught me the basics of advocacy and network with other medical students interested in advocacy. After attending MARC, I wanted to get more engaged with AMA. I ultimately applied for a number of standing committees and was accepted into the MERC (Membership, Engagement, and Recruitment Committee).
The Medical Student Advocacy & Region Conference (MARC)
If you are looking for a high-yield opportunity to see what the AMA is all about and meet other medical students interested in advocacy, I would highly recommend attending the MARC as your introduction to AMA. If you enjoy the experience, you should definitely consider applying for leadership positions at either the local or national level. Learn how to advocate for physicians and patients.
Additional Benefits
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