Alpha Omega Alpha (ΑΩΑ) Honor Medical Society

Mission

The West Virginia University School of Medicine supports the West Virginia alpha chapter of Alpha Omega Alpha, AOA. This chapter was founded in 1962.The name of this national honor medical society comes from the three Greek letters AΩA being the initials of the essential words in the following motto: "Worthy to serve the suffering"

AOA is the only national medical school honor society. Eligibility requires academic rank in the top quartile of the class. Only one sixth of a class may be elected to membership, with a maximum of one half of this number elected in the third year of medical school.

AOA was organized to promote scholarship and research in medical schools, encourage a high standard of character and conduct among medical students and graduates, and recognize high attainment in medical science, practice, and related fields.

To fulfill its mission, in addition to medical students, AOA elects outstanding graduates, faculty and honorary members. Criteria for election include scholastic excellence, and integrity, capacity for leadership, compassion, and fairness in dealing with colleagues. Alumni may be elected ten years after graduation based on professional achievement. In addition, each year a chapter may elect up to two faculty members per year.

The journal of the society is The Pharos, is published quarterly since 1938.

AOA was organized by William Webster Root and five other medical students at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Chicago, Illinois in 1902. There are now more than 120 chapters in the United States.

Founder William W. Root said of AOA , "It is the duty of members to foster the scientific and philosophical features of the medical profession, to look beyond self to the welfare of the profession and of the public, to cultivate social mindedness, as well as individualistic attitude toward responsibilities, to show respect for colleagues, especially for elders and teachers, to foster research and in all ways to ennoble the profession of medicine and advance it in public opinion. It is equally a duty to avoid that which is unworthy, including the commercial spirit and all practices injurious to the welfare of patients, the public, or the profession."

History

Motto: Worthy to Serve the Suffering
National AOA Home Founded in 1938 by William Webster Root
West Virginia Alpha Chapter Founded in 1962

On April 25, 1962, James A. Campbell, MD Secretary/Treasurer of the National Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society notified WVU Vice President for Health Sciences, Kenneth E. Penrod, PhD, that the West Virginia alpha chapter of Alpha Omega Alpha was approved as a new chapter of the honor medical society as established by the faculty members of AOA Home.

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National ΑΩΑ

William Root was proud of the fact that, when he founded the society to counter the prevailing attitude toward medical students "such protests arose entirely from the students, not one member of the faculty having been consulted." Today, in order to provide continuity as students graduate, each chapter has a faculty councilor who becomes a member of the national governing council. A chapter's activities are determined by the councilor and the student members.

On a national level, the governing council elects a board of directors, which consists of leaders in medical education, a medical student, an intern, a resident, and three chapter councilors. The board in turn elects the society's officers-president, vice-president, and secretary treasurer. It also appoints an executive secretary, who is responsible for administering the central office with the assistance of a small staff. In 1977, the society established its central office in Menlo Park, California, which coordinates programs and communications between chapters and the national governing body. As the society has grown with the establishment of new chapters and the resultant increase in membership, the activities of the central office staff have grown apace.

Visit National AOA Home website