Welcome!
Meetings will be held on Tuesdays at 9:15pm in Ackerman 2410
A letter from the President:
Hello. My name is Jennifer and I would like to welcome you to the website for the U.C.L.A. chapter of the nationally recognized Pre-Student Osteopathic Medical Association. With so many pre-medical student organizations on campus, it can be difficult choosing one over the other. Some are fraternities, some are targeted towards a specific racial/ethnic group, and others are heavily service-based. All are similar, however, in that the majority of their medical school preparation events and services are centered on allopathic medicine. In contrast, many of the pre-med groups on campus barely emphasize osteopathic medicine and do little to promote the profession. However, while osteopathic medicine is more popular on the East Coast, it is currently *one of the fastest growing health professions*(AOA). I saw this as a problem and took my growing
fascination with osteopathic medicine to start the first pre-medical organization on campus to be dedicated entirely to osteopathy. The presence of this group on campus is crucial for the following reasons: 1) osteopathic medicine is becoming increasingly popular, and as a result, 2) the next generation of doctors should be aware of it, and finally, 3) while most of the application requirements are the same as those for allopathic medical schools, there are additional/different recommendations for individuals applying to osteopathic medical school, such as finding a D.O. to shadow.
Please note that osteopathic medicine is *not* a rival of allopathic medicine, nor by promoting osteopathic medicine am I trying to downplay the effectiveness of allopathic medicine; D.O.s and M.D.s are partners in providing healthcare, and I myself will be applying to mainly allopathic medical schools. But I think as future doctors we all have a lot to learn from osteopathic medicine. Anyone who successfully graduates from medical school can be a doctor, but the difference between the good and bad doctors is not only *what *they do, but also *how* they do it. That's where the more personal nature of osteopathic care and the healing touch of osteopathic medicine come in. It's the way healthcare should be.
Jennifer Fu
Announcements
Just wanted to remind you that Touro University is visiting this Thursday, 2/8 in Humanities 169 from 7-8. Touro University is one of the two osteopathic medical schools in California, so if you do plan on staying in this wonderful California sunshine, check their program out!!
Jenn
This is just a quick reminder that this week's meeting is on Monday 1/29. Hope to see you there!
475 Gayley Ave.
Apt. 303 (The apartment at the light across from De Neve Plaza
Week 3 Minutes
*I. Western University OMT demonstration;
*We'll be holding another OMT (osteopathic manipulative treatment) demonstration with medical students from Western Osteopathic University (located in Pomona, CA). This will be a big event! Our last demonstration was a success so don't miss this one! Mark your calendars for:
*Wednesday, February 21st at 5-7pm, Kerckhoff Grand Salon.*
*II. Touro University visit; * A joint event with UCLA PrePharm society; A visitor from Touro University, located in Vallejo (Maire Island), CA will discuss the admissions process to the DO school - the second osteopathic school in California.
*Thursday, February 8th; time and location TBA.*
*III. APAMSA* presentatation on osteopathic medicine: February 13th at 6pm.
*IV. Our Lady of Peace Health Fair:
* APHC, PCH, LSH, VCH and other health clubs will be participating in the annual - Our Lady of Peace Health Fair; they will be needing volunteers to participate in various positions on Sunday, February 4th. Volunteer orientations are Jan 31st and Feb 1st. Email olpvolcom@gmail.com if you are interested.
*V. IOP (International Outreach Project);* a representative informed us about this organization that volunteers internationally, supporting medical professions in underprivileged areas. Visit their website for more information: http://www.studentgroups.ucla.edu/amsa/iop/
Hello PreSOMA! If you've missed tonight's meeting, here's the first of many
"Meeting Minutes" emails that will sum up the topics we discussed.
I. What is Osteopathic Medicine
II. Upcoming Events - Save these dates!
III. Planned Events for the Upcoming Year.
*October 17th*: "Why Medicine" question and answer session with a panel of doctors; located on the hill.
*October 18th:* *Andrew Taylor Still University* will be visiting to speak to us about their osteopathic medical school in Arizona. The event is tentative for 6:30pm and the location will be announced.
*III. Planned Events/Projects we will hold for the upcoming year.*
*Test bank* - we will be creating a test bank for our club: please participate in this project and let us know which exams you would be able to submit to our bank. *Phone tree* - we will be making a list of phone numbers to contact for reminders before an event, if you would like to be added to this phone list, please reply with your name and phone number. Invite more D.O.'s to come speak to our group. Invite more osteopathic schools to inform us about the application process Have an actual OMT (osteopathic manipulative therapy) demonstration. Have lunch with a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine. Hold PreSOMA lunches; meet up during the weekday to have lunch on campus about once a month. Have a presentation in Powell. Hold a social and view an inspirational 20 minute DVD about osteopathic medicine. Hold presentations at other pre-med organizations to inform others about PreSOMA.
Next PreSOMA meeting: *Tuesday, October 10th at 9:15 in Ackerman Union, Room 2410.*
Dear All:
I hope you got a chance to check out the article in the Daily Bruin
(tuesday) on Osteopathic Medicine. I am very glad we were able to put that
together. Tricia Murdoch, the recruiter at Western University, sent me the
following link for anyone who is interested in going to the osteopathic
medicine awareness conference, which takes place in August. I will not be
here during that time, but if enough people respond and are interested in
carpooling, I would be happy to help you guys put carpool groups together.
Osteopathic Medicine Awareness Conference
- Jenn
I. Power Point Presentation.
We've decided to put together a powerpoint to present at other premed
group meetings. Here are the topics we've come up with and members who have
volunteered to contribute to the presentation.
1. History (Samson Yeung)
2. OMT/OMM (Kelly Chen)
3. MDs vs. DOs, including a schooling timeline (Sharon Kang)
4. Schools (Chris Wong)
5. Admissions Statistics (Jen Drader)
6. UCLA Pre-SOMA (Anna Nguyen and Tyffany Chen)
7. General Definition (Emily Nguyen and Jennifer Fu)
**
We had an interesting debate on the pros and cons of stem cell research tonight. Come join us in future meetings for more interesting debates! II. Social Event!
Next week we'll be taking a trip to Westwood for a social event. We'll meet at Ackerman 2410 at 9:15 next *Tuesday. May 9th, 2006. *Hope to see you guys there!
Week 1 meeting minutes - spring quarter!
Hope everyone had a great spring break.
Here's what we discussed in today's meeting:
1. Our *next event *will be held on *Thursday, April 13th.* We will have
med-student guest speakers from Western University
- The event will most likely be held in the Career Center, the location
will be finalized by next week.
2. *Daily Bruin Article.* We're still trying to get a hold of someone that
would be able to help us get an article about osteopathic medicine into the
Daily Bruin. If anyone has any connections, please let us know.
3. Possible *volunteer events* that were brought up today: walks, Los
Angeles book faire, etc. Please share any other events that you think would
be interesting with the group or Kelly Chen at Kel@ucla.edu
4. *Next event:*
i. We will be flyering for our event next Wednesday and Thursday. Please
remember to flyer during the time that you've signed up for. Jennifer will
get copies of flyers to us by next week.
ii. Other methods that were discussed: forums, facebook, in class
announcements, emails to professors and counselors. Please remember to get
those done if you've volunteered for any of those also.
5.*Debate for next week:* During our next meeting, we will have a brief
debate on the subject of *Euthanasia*. It would be great if everyone could
look up a few facts on Euthanasia so you would be able to participate in our
discussion next week.
Our next meeting will be held on *Tuesday, April 11th at 9:15 in Ackerman
2410. **
*Our next event will be held on *Thursday, April 13th in the Career
Center.*Room # and time TBA next week.
Hope to see you guys there!
- Anna Nguyen.
Welcome back everyone. This Spring Quarter, we will be holding the meetings at the same time and place. Ackerman 2410, Tuesdays at 9:15pm. We will be making plans for our next even on April 13th with guest speakers from Western University. Come join us!
1. The panel of doctors - family feud night event is tonight (Feb 15) in Covel Horizon room at 7:00pm. Jennifer and I will be there also! 2. Flyers - We'll be flyering some information about Osteopathic medicine and PreSOMA around campus again - just to get the news out to people. - Bruin article - We're still looking for a way to get some info on an article. If anyone has any connections it'd be great if you'd help us out! 3. Ideas for next quarter: - The panel of osteopathic doctors - Sports medicine speakers (trainers from the basketball team who are DOs) - Have someone speak about women in the medical field - So we're hoping to aim for early planning for our future events. Maybe we can start preparing for next quarters events at the end of this quarter (have all the flyers ready - dates and rooms set) so we can come back from break and have everything ready to go for second week!. 4. Interview questions - so we did another round of answering some medschool interview questions. Some really interesting ones were brought up: 1. If you were to give up a part of your body to go to medschool, what would it be? 2. What do you find yourself doing if all the medschools were closed? 3. What would you do if you witnessed a classmate (in medschool) cheating on a test? 4. What was the last research article that you read?
1) Elections will be held next week, positions open include: Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer (fundraising), Public Relations Coordinator (Publicity), and Volunteer Coordinator. Exact duties can be found in the constitution, attached.
2) All members are required to bring 20 copies of the flyer to the next meeting. (This is not too much to ask, since Life Science computer lab offers 300 in free printing, Franz Hall 100, and you can also use the Student Activities Center. )
3) For those of you that volunteered to help with specific tasks-- please do not forget. I will try to send you a reminder too. We will sign up for tabling next week.
4) Next meeting is next week, Tuesday at 9:15 in Ackerman 2410. I will pass out membership forms for National Pre-SOMA so it is important that you attend!
Club Update: October 20th, 2005: We are currently beginning the registration process for the U.C.L.A. Pre-SOMA chapter, with Jennifer Fu, Chris Chan, and Tyffany Chen acting as signatories. Our CSP advisor is Pam Cysner and we are being sponsored by the physiological science department through Inna Gergel, the undergraduate student affairs officer. Tentative organization meetings are scheduled for Mondays at 4:15, in a location TBA. Our main concerns right now are to 1) complete registration, 2) finalize meeting time and location, 3) plan our first osteopathic information night. P.S.: the sandwich board has been put up in the Court of Sciences!
Pre-SOMA D.O. Day on the Hill Scholarship Award The $1000 Pre-SOMA D.O. Day on the Hill Scholarship will be awarded to one undergraduate National Pre-SOMA member who demonstrates a strong interest in medical health politics and in National Pre-SOMA. Not a member of National Pre-SOMA yet? Membership applications are available at the SOMA website, www.studentdo.com/pre-soma.htm. Scholarship applications can be found at http://www.studentdo.com/pre-soma.htm#l2 and are due January 15th.
Recent Media Citations
(taken from the American Osteopathic Association website, http://www.osteopathic.org/index.cfm?PageID=mc_cite)September 18 "Alternative Route: Osteopathy a Good Option for Some Medical Students,"
Chicago Tribune
An increasing number of medical school applicants are considering osteopathic medicine. D.O.s explain that the patient-centered philosophy accounts for much of this interest. A flood of women applicants is also contributing to the increase. Women have accounted for more than half of osteopathic medical school applicants for the past two years.
September 12 - "Med Students Eager to Treat Evacuees,"
Charleston Daily Mail
Medical students from across West Virginia came to the aid of Hurricane Katrina survivors at Camp Dawson, a makeshift clinic containing a lab, a full nursing staff and a complete pharmacy.