Below is info about the upcoming national AMSA convention. There are many opportunities for our chapter to participate nationally and I encourage everyone to look into working in the convention committees, running for a regional/national office, or writing a resolution for national AMSA. Last year our AMSA chaper made a splash at the National level and I would like to keep the tradition going. The deadline for most of these opportunities are --due JAN 17th--, so plan ahead. We'll talk about all this info during our upcoming meeting on Friday during lunch time, room tba. Lata, Cuong ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- Dear AMSA friends, It's a new year, you're back to school, and guess what? It's only 2 weeks before the deadline (Jan 17th) to create a CHANGE in AMSA, to RUN for national office, and to GET $$$$ for the convention!! If you are interested, please read on: CONTENTS OF EMAIL: 1. Introduction to Committees at Convention, or How to Get $115 in Registration Fees Waived 2. How to Write Resolutions and Choose Delegates 3. How to Run for a Regional or National Office 4. Where to Find More Information The House of Delegates (HOD) is where the local chapters of AMSA convene each year as an official, policy-making body. We'll debate health care issues important to medical students and vote on the resolutions that will become new AMSA policy, relating to areas such as advocacy, community health, health policy, humanistic medicine, medical education, global health, or any other area that is important to AMSA members. As your Trustees-at-Large, we (Michael Tomblyn & Leana Wen) are responsible for helping you by making the HOD run smoothly as we create AMSA policy for the new year. Things that you should think about: [ ] Going to Convention (more general convention info at www.amsa.org/conv) (including volunteering for committees and getting registration fee waived) [ ] Writing Resolutions [ ] Becoming (one of) Your Chapter's Delegate(s) to the HOD [ ] Running for Regional, National, Action Committee, or Interest Group positions Resolutions and Committee Applications have to be submitted by January 17th! 1. INTRODUCTION TO COMMITTEES, OR, SAVE SOME $$$ At the national convention, the Trustees-at-Large coordinate 3 committees of AMSA members. Any AMSA member may apply for these positions, and if you are selected to be a committee member your registration fee is waived. That's $115 !!!! The REFERENCE COMMITTEES have a crucial role -- reading the resolutions, synthesizing the opinions of the membership, and representing those resolutions to the House of Delegates. There will be about THIRTY people chosen, so there's lots of free money here. Apply online by Jan 17th at http://www.amsa.org/conv/forms.cfm . The NOMINATIONS COMMITTEE oversees the election of AMSA's national officers. You'll get to meet the new national officers and hang out with them like the secret service. It's a lot of fun and a bit less work than the reference committees. Apply online by Jan 17 th at http://www.amsa.org/conv/forms.cfm . The CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE serves as a "guard" to the HOD floor and makes sure that delegates register when they enter and leave the floor. Ask your chapter president for the form (in the Official Call) to apply for any of these committees. Apply online by Jan 17th at http://www.amsa.org/conv/forms.cfm . 2. HOW TO WRITE RESOLUTIONS ( deadline Jan 17 ) AND CHOOSE DELEGATES (deadline Feb 27 ) First things first. If you have ideas for resolutions (new policies or changes in existing AMSA policies), you can start working now on writing up your ideas and submitting them. Consult the OFFICIAL CALL (that cute blue booklet that has all the info on convention) for information on how to write your ideas and details on submission (chapter presidents should have received this in the mail). Not sure what AMSA policy currently says? Check AMSA's Constitution & Bylaws, etc. at h ttp://www.amsa.org/about/ppp /contents.html (chapter presidents received a hard copy with the Official Call) or call or email Michael or Leana (contact info below). Not sure how to write a resolution about an idea you have? Please contact us! We love to help you with AMSA policy!!! The deadline is JANUARY 17TH!!! Second things second. Every chapter is allowed one delegate for the first 200 AMSA members it has, and another delegate for every portion of 200 students beyond that. Your chapter officer must submit the names of official delegates to the national office by FEBRUARY 27th !!! If you are interested in serving as a delegate, contact your chapter president, who can find the form in the OFFICIAL CALL. Serving as a delegate is fun and informative. 3. HOW TO RUN FOR A POSITION To run for national office (President, Vice President, Junior Trustee-at-Large, Treasurer, Action Committee Trustee), Regional Trustee or Associate Trustee you should try to submit a letter of interest and a CV to the AMSA National Office by Jan. 17th, 2004 . You can still run if you don't get your letter and CV in on time, but your materials won't be included in the packet sent out to all of the Chapter Officers in February. You can decide to run at any point until Friday of the National Convention. Contact the current officers with specific questions about positions. To run for a position on an Action Committee (Health Policy, Global Health, Advocacy, Medical Education, Community and Public Health, or Humanistic Medicine) or Interest Group (Bioethics, Child & Adolescent Health, Death & Dying, Direct Action, Geriatrics, Primary Care, Psychiatry, Surgery, or Osteopathic IG), it is not necessary to send in a CV beforehand. Each of these groups has elections during convention. However, check their individual websites or contact their leaders before convention for forms that need to be filled out. 4. WHERE TO FIND MORE INFO ABOUT THE HOUSE OF DELEGATES 1. The Official Call - a blue booklet sent to each chapter president with detailed information about the national convention, your responsibilities, and the HOD. 2. The AMSA Website - www.amsa.org - convention information up now! 3. Your Trustees-at-Large: michael tomblyn ([log in to unmask]) and leana wen ([log in to unmask]) 4. Your Regional Trustees and Associate Trustees We look forward to meeting each and every one of you! Please contact us if you have any questions at all! Michael Tomblyn and Leana Wen, HOD chairs ---------------------------------------------------- Leana S. Wen National Junior Trustee-at-Large (jtal@ href="http://www.amsa.org)">www.amsa.org) American Medical Student Association Forging A Future of Health Equality AMSA's 54th Annual Convention March 17-21, 2004 http://www.amsa.org/conv/ --- You are currently subscribed to c_officer as: [log in to unmask] PLEASE NOTE: To unsubscribe send a blank email to [log in to unmask] Do NOT send a message to the entire listserve. To change your subscription to digest mode, send a blank email to [log in to unmask]