| Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association (APAMSA) | |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1995 |
| Type | Student-governed Organization |
| Location |  United States |
| Membership | Over 15,000 medical students, pre-medical students, residents, and physicians |
| Official languages | English |
| National President | Sam Li |
| Website | APAMSA |
The Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association (APAMSA), founded in 1995, is the nation’s largest organization representing Asian Pacific American (APA) medical students. APAMSA is a student-governed and national organization that promotes awareness and advocacy of issues affecting the APA community. They have over 15,000 medical students, pre-medical students, interns, medical residents, and practicing physicians and over 90 chapters from across the nation. APAMSA hosts an annual National Conference and a Hepatitis B Conference in the fall.
Contents |
Disparities in Medical Education: In 2007, APAMSA conducted a national study[1] to reveal racial and ethnic disparities in medical school grades during clinical years. The study demonstrated that minorities receive lower grades than white medical students. This study served to show the possibility that cultural factors may play a role in medical school grades during clinical years. In 2009, APAMSA followed up with a second study[2] to examine medical student communication styles. The study concluded that there were differences in student communication styles and feedback based on demographic differences suggesting a need for cultural competency training for both medical student and teacher. In early 2010, APAMSA performed another follow up study based on the findings of 2007. It was found that when further stratifying the original study population, the medical students that were suffering from poor grades were primarily students of African-American descent. Interestingly, Asian-American medical students tended to out perform their white counterparts and the score criteria for residency matching seemed to be increased for Asian-Americans. When following the original study population into their residency years it was found that Asian-American medical students were heavily concentrated in specialties such as Dermatology and Radiology, fields that have been long known to have fewer work hours but higher pay than other medical subspecialties. When interviewed, the residents stated that money was the major driving force for attending medical school. The importance of status was not as evident but showed to be statistically significant when compared to a control white resident population.
Bone Marrow Drive: During the Presidential Inaugural Committee’s National Day of Service, APAMSA helped organize the Gift of Hope, Gift of Unity Marrow Drives in Washington DC and in California with Yul Kwon and the national bone marrow programs: NMDP, AADP, A3M, and SAMAR[3]. In 2009, APAMSA also launched the 1000 CRANES for HOPE Campaign to register at least 1000 minorities onto the National Bone Marrow Registry[4].
Hepatitis B: Since 2006, APAMSA has contributed to help raise awareness about Hepatitis B and liver disease in the APA community by Hepatitis B, APAMSA Fights to Break the Hepatitis B Cycle[5]. This campaign brought together a national cross section of medical students and physicians dedicated to ending the epidemic of hepatitis B in APA community, and the launching of several local hepatitis B education and screening programs across the United States[6].
APAMSA officially started in 1995 by Dr. Bi and his colleagues with the first National Conference after they were worried about the future of APA medical students and communities. Since then, APAMSA has grown to include many National Programs including the Hepatitis B education and immunization project and the Bone Marrow Donation project.
As an organization based on health care, APAMSA has also held a prominent role in speaking out for smoking and tobacco use targeting the Asian community, for irresponsible alcohol use, for immunization and for health standards addressing needs of the medically underserved. So far efforts have been met with great success as smoking and alcohol consumption, along with related chronic illnesses, have been on the rise in Asian youth since 2003.
|
|
Wikis
Search
