Alpha Omega Alpha
Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society (AΩA) is an honor medical society founded in 1902 on the principle of holding physicians to the highest standards. The nationwide organization aims to improve care for all by:
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- Recognizing high educational achievement
- Honoring gifted teaching
- Encouraging the development of leaders in academia and the community
- Supporting the ideals of humanism
- Promoting service to others
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Wayne State University School of Medicine’s AΩA chapter includes third- and fourth-year students who have committed to the pillars of high-quality patient care, leadership, service, and scholarship.
Visit the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society for more information.
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Selection Criteria
National AΩA Selection Criteria
AΩA member medical schools are permitted to elect up to 20% of the student body. Nominees are comprised of third and fourth-year students who, based on merit, demonstrate the characteristics of excellent physicians in alignment with AΩA’s mission and values. Once elected to AΩA, membership is for life.
Wayne State University School of Medicine AΩA Selection Criteria
Junior AΩA:
The top 10% academically of the Year 3 Class and all students who honored both Years 1 and 2 are invited to apply, typically in October of their third year. Selection for AΩA membership is based on additional elements including service, leadership, and research. Final selection is via a blinded process conducted by the AΩA committee.
Please note that, based on those criteria, selection for Junior AΩA is extremely stringent. Students who are not included in Junior AΩA will have another opportunity for invitation and selection during their senior year.
Senior AΩA:
The top 20% academically of the Year 4 Class are invited to apply, typically in July of their fourth year. Again, selection for Senior AΩA membership is based on additional elements including service, leadership, research, and Step 1 performance. The selection process reflects combined excellence in the areas of academics, scholarly work, and service and places students approximately in the top one-sixth of the WSUSOM graduating class. Senior AΩA selection is completed in a timeframe for inclusion in the residency application cycle for all specialty Matches.
Do not hesitate to contact any executive board member for more information.
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Events
Membership Requirements
All AΩA members need to accumulate a minimum number of points before graduation. Members obtain these points by engaging in the following activities:
- Attending general body meetings
- Engaging in community service
- Publishing or presenting original research
- Participating in the AΩA mentorship program
- Attending the annual induction banquet
2024 AΩA Induction Banquet
Each year, we honor new AΩA student inductees with an AΩA induction banquet. Additionally, each year we recognize a faculty and resident who exemplifies the AΩA motto of being “worthy to serve the suffering.” The night culminates with an address by the guest speaker, nominated and selected by the AΩA board.
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Programs and awards
AΩA Award for Excellence in Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity in Medical Education and Patient Care
This award recognizes medical schools (and their associated AΩA Chapter) that demonstrate exemplary leadership, innovation, and engagement in fostering an inclusive culture that transforms the ideals of inclusion, diversity, and equity into successful programs that support medical student, house staff, and faculty diversity in service to the community.
AΩA Professionalism Award
This award recognizes and honors outstanding faculty and programs with the best practices in medical professionalism education. Up to three one-time awards of $10,000 will be given based on a national competition.
Carolyn L. Kuckein Student Research Fellowship
To promote basic and clinical research in medical fields, social science, or health services, AΩA awards up to fifty $6,000 fellowships each year to medical students at schools with active AΩA chapters.
Chapter Support Award
In recognition of the services provided by support staff to the workings of local Chapters. Chapter Councilors may nominate a member of the support staff for this award.
Helen H. Glaser Student Essay Award
To encourage scholarly writing, this awards offers prizes for essays on nontechnical medical topics. Winning essays are published in The Pharos.
Medical Student Service Leadership Project Grant
Alpha Omega Alpha is committed to preparing future leaders in medicine and health care. Leadership is about making a positive difference and can be learned through education, observation, and experience, and working with leader mentors. Service learning may provide an excellent opportunity for students to develop as servant leaders. Each chapter may submit one proposal for a project funded for two years at $5000 for the first year, $4000 for the second.
The Pharos Poetry Award
To encourage students to write effective poetry. Winning poems are published in The Pharos.
Postgraduate Fellowship
Support to allow residents or fellows to pursue a project in the spirit of the AΩA mission statement. Must be a research project or a scholarly project fulfilling the requirements for scholarly activity by the ACGME. Priority for scholarly projects will be given to those in the areas of leadership, professionalism, and teaching. Others may be considered based on the merits of the proposal. AΩA awards up to ten awards of $2000.
Richard L. Byyny Fellow in Leadership
This award recognizes and supports the further development of outstanding leaders. Mid-career physicians who provide outstanding leadership within organizations in medicine and health care, including schools of medicine, academic health centers, community hospitals, clinics, agencies, or organizations, with a high promise for future success and contribution are eligible to apply. The applicants must be members of AΩA. Up to three awards of $30,000 to be used for further development as leaders.
Robert H. Moser Essay Award
A $4,500 writing prize to honor one of the great leaders in American medicine, the late Robert H. Moser, MD (AΩA, Georgetown University, 1969). This prize will be awarded to an original, outstanding essay that celebrates the life of a physician like Dr. Moser who has enriched the world through his/her careers within, related to, and/or outside of medicine.
Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award
Each year, in collaboration with the Association of American Medical Colleges, AΩA presents this award to four outstanding teachers nominated from medical schools in the United States and Canada. Past recipients of the award have developed medical education programs and materials widely adopted in medical school curricula. AΩA presents $10,000 to each award winner, $2,500 to the winner’s teaching institution, and $1,000 to the AΩA chapter of the school.
Visiting Professorship
Visiting professors can both educate and stimulate students, residents, and faculty during their visits. AΩA provides the opportunity for each Chapter to host one visiting professor per year for a day of activities, including grand rounds, meetings with small groups of students, and delivery of a lecture.
Volunteer Clinical Faculty Award
Clinical faculty in community practices devote much time and effort to teaching students and residents, yet their devotion is rarely publicly recognized. This award may be presented annually to up to five doctors in each AΩA Chapter in recognition of their indispensable services.
Visit the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society for more information.
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Members
Executive Board
Councilor: Michael White, M.D.
Email: mwhite@med.wayne.edu
President: Jackson Ferris
Email: jackson.ferris@wayne.edu
Vice President: Marissa Yaldo
Email: marissa.yaldo@med.wayne.edu
Secretary: Peter Zakaria
Email: peter.zakaria@med.wayne.edu
Treasurer: Elizabeth Choi
Email: elchoi@wayne.edu
Current Members
Class of 2025
Faud-Tahsin Abbas
Rebecca Adams
Ismail Aijazuddin
Mahnoor Ayub
Carolyn Baldwin
Shreya Balusu
Lillian Baumann
Mohamad Bazzi
Matthew Brennan
Liam Browning
Erin Bybee
Nicolas Ceniza
Julia Chase
Ahmad Chouman
Matthew Corsi
Bridget Croniger
Andrew Demko
Ajith Dupati
Andrew Gregory
Tara Hekmati
Olivia Heppell
Sofia Howson
Genevieve Joseph-Mofford
Alexander Jurayj
Dheeraj Kagithala
Cecilly Kelleher
Victoria Kelley
George Kidess
Matthew Kim
Paul KimAndrew Kohrman
Eleanor Lasch
Nicholas Livingston
John Lloyd
Melissa Ly
Sara Ma
Alexis Malecki
Veronica Marougail
Parker Marsh
Jack McConnell
Devin Mendez
Sabrina Montemayor
Chase Morrison
Tabitha Moses
Anthony Mrocko
Elsa Nylund
Hope O’Brien
Samantha Pfiffner
Nicholas Pryde
Victoria Qian
Andrew Rabah
Anneliese Rademacher
Dheeraj Reddy Kagithala
Daniel Settecerri
Riya Shah
Hanna Simmons
Annie Tonnu
Karis Tutuska
Michael YuClass of 2026
Cameron Bear
Sneha Bhargava
Kirsten Brinkmeier
Kendall Brothers
Elizabeth Choi
Jessica Elderkin
Jackson Ferris
John Gallagher
Rohit Goru
Alexa Kalaj
Nevil M. Khurana
Sonja Klumpp
Patrick Kollman
Emmanuel Meram
Meaghan Osborne
Nicole Oska
Daphne Pate
Cassandra Pecarski
Brianna Regan
Marissa Yaldo
Peter Zakaria
Resident and Faculty Honorees
2024 Faculty Honoree: Dr. Guillermina Nava
2024 Resident Honoree: Dr. Katherine Ciurej