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Being a student delegate affords you and your Anesthesia Interest Group (AIG) voting privileges in the ASA Medical Student Component House of Delegates (HOD), held during the ASA Annual Meeting.
The delegates serve as liaisons between the medical school and the ASA. A letter of support or recommendation from an AIG faculty mentor is required as part of the application process. The term is one year. ASA membership is required to serve as a student delegate (voting) or alternate delegate (non-voting). Have you paid your membership for the current year? Log into your profile to check.
Are you a faculty member involved with the Anesthesia Interest Group (AIG) and looking to streamline the process of selecting medical student delegates? In this guide, we'll walk you through the steps to create an efficient and transparent process for choosing your delegates, ensuring that your medical school is represented by the most outstanding candidates.
Each medical school has the opportunity to appoint one delegate and one alternate delegate to the medical student component to attend the annual anesthesiology meeting.
Delegate responsibilities - Being an ASA student delegate affords you voting privileges in the ASA Medical Student Component House of Delegates (HOD), held during the ASA Annual Meeting. ASA membership is required to serve as a student delegate or alternate delegate (non-voting). The delegates serve as liaisons between the medical school and the ASA. The term is one year, and delegates may be re-elected or re-instated via their AIG.
As a faculty advisor, you are tasked with selecting the best and most engaged individuals for these crucial roles. As the specialty becomes more competitive, serving as a delegates or alternate delegate givers students the opportunity to enhance their residency application and engage early with our professional societies.
Around late April or early May each year, you and your medical students who are ASA members will receive an email notification about the process from the ASA.
Once you receive this email, you can consider activating the application process below.
Meet with AIG participants to establish an internal election process that will best reflect the needs of electing two members to the delegate and alternate delegate roles.
As an example, here we present the election process chosen by the anesthesia interest group at Medical College of Georgia, recommended by Dr. Caryl Bailey:
Students were required to upload a CV and a 250 word statement of interest to the medical school’s AIG’s faculty advisor. This allows you to gather essential information about the candidates and understand their interest in the position.
The clerkship director(s) and / or AIG faculty advisors thoroughly review applications. This step is crucial in ensuring that the most qualified and enthusiastic students are selected. Reviewing CVs and statements of interest will help in identifying the candidates who align best with the role.
Helpful hint: We often highly consider candidates with a history of leadership and involvement in organized medicine and advocacy.
To promote transparency and enhance their effectiveness in connecting with other students, send an email to formally announce the selected delegate and alternate delegate to your AIG members.
All elected medical school delegates must provide a letter of recommendation from either the AIG faculty advisor or another appropriate mentor. These letters should highlight the qualities and skills that make them suitable representatives of your group.
As a faculty member, it's your responsibility to support the chosen students. A confirmation letter from you should be included in the elected delegate’s and alternate delegate’s application packets found on the ASA website.
Finally, the selected students should submit their materials to become delegates via this page at the appropriate links below.
Faculty advisor connects the newly appointed delegates with the outgoing delegates to facilitate hand off and set expectations for the roles.
By following these steps, the faculty advisor can create a structured and effective process for selecting medical student delegates for their Anesthesia Interest Group. This approach ensures that medical schools choose the most qualified and dedicated individuals to represent their organization and further their own knowledge and experience in the field of anesthesia.
Current delegates are allowed to be re-elected or re-installed into their role; however, the ASA MSC would need confirmation from the AIG faculty advisor of this decision.
Consider approaching your department, residency program or state society about sponsorship opportunities for the delegates to travel to the meeting.
Encourage students to apply for the roles within the ASA Medical Student Component Governing Council.
Encourage student participation in your state society.
LINK TO ALTERNATE DELEGATE APPLICATION
Curious about the experience of an ASA MSC Delegate? Read more about the experiences of previous Medical Student Delegates from the Medical College of Georgia.
Contact any member of the MSC Governing Council with questions about this role. We’ve planned some great educational sessions with you in mind.
Caryl Bailey MD
Faculty Advisor, Anesthesia Interest Group
Clerkship Director and Associate Residency Program Director
Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Medical College of Georgia
Mathew Ciurash
2024 President, ASA Medical Student Component
Rebecca Nika Tsai
2024 President-Elect, ASA Medical Student Component
Date of last update: May 31, 2024
