alpha omega alpha

[Mr hawkings]

Are DO students elligible for AOA honors? Please forgive me if its a dumb question.

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[Shinken]

Are DO students elligible for AOA honors?

No, they're not.

 

[Taus]

no...the DO honor society is Sigma Sigma Phi

 

[Mr hawkings]

no...the DO honor society is Sigma Sigma Phi

Thanks for the info

 

[misyel]

no...the DO honor society is Sigma Sigma Phi

Our school's honor society is Psi Sigma Alpha. Has anyone heard of it? I asked our advisor, and he said both Psi Sigma Alpha and Sigma Sigma Phi are osteopathic honor societies, but Psi Sigma Alpha is the "more reknowned" one. I don't know if I believe him though, because I don't even see a website! Have we been fooled this whole time?!?

 

[misyel]

Are DO students elligible for AOA honors? Please forgive me if its a dumb question.

I actually called AOA during my first year at NYCOM to inquire about this, and they said osteopathic schools can have an AOA chapter established as long as they have two faculty members who are AOA members. So yes, DO students are eligible.

 

[JonnyG]

Our school's honor society is Psi Sigma Alpha. Has anyone heard of it? I asked our advisor, and he said both Psi Sigma Alpha and Sigma Sigma Phi are osteopathic honor societies, but Psi Sigma Alpha is the "more reknowned" one. I don't know if I believe him though, because I don't even see a website! Have we been fooled this whole time?!?

well lets put it this way the only honors societies that can be placed on ERAS are AOA and sigma sigma phi.....................................................Psi Sigma Alpha may be more reknowned but it won't help you get a residency

 

[donvicious]

I actually called AOA during my first year at NYCOM to inquire about this, and they said osteopathic schools can have an AOA chapter established as long as they have two faculty members who are AOA members. So yes, DO students are eligible.

I don't suppose you remember who you spoke with, do you?

I called them today and they said that DO schools were not eligible to establish a chapter.

 

[silhouette]

no...the DO honor society is Sigma Sigma Phi

Which is dumb, since not every school has a chapter. Also its actually a "honorary service fraternity". The actual osteopathic academic honor society is Psi Sigma Alpha. Too bad the AOA wont tell ERAS that...You can still put it in your awards section though.

 

[silhouette]

well lets put it this way the only honors societies that can be placed on ERAS are AOA and sigma sigma phi.....................................................Psi Sigma Alpha may be more reknowned but it won't help you get a residency

Actually it does. It helped me I'm sure of it.

Here are the entrance requirements for PPS:
* Must be a student at an Osteopathic Medical College.
* Must successfully complete one semester of classroom work.
* Must show a high degree of scholarship and service to college and/or profession.
* Must have a passing scholastic standing.

For PSA:
* Awarded after first 2 years for being in the top 15% of your class.

Tell me which one you would rather see on an application.

 

[emeddo]

I thought I was already an member of the AOA, I mean I got this card and everything the first day of medical school and they send me a journal every month 🙂

 

[DOCTORSAIB]

Which is dumb, since not every school has a chapter. Also its actually a "honorary service fraternity". The actual osteopathic academic honor society is Psi Sigma Alpha. Too bad the AOA wont tell ERAS that...You can still put it in your awards section though.

You are absolutely right. Some schools unfortunately don't have a chapter of PSA and PCOM is one of them (as far as I know).

Having said that, I'm not quite sure how SSP made it to the ERAS application and PSA didn't. If anything, the latter is the equivalent of AOA (Alpha Omega Alpha), not SSP.

 

[Taus]

Actually it does. It helped me I'm sure of it.

Here are the entrance requirements for PPS:
* Must be a student at an Osteopathic Medical College.
* Must successfully complete one semester of classroom work.
* Must show a high degree of scholarship and service to college and/or profession.
* Must have a passing scholastic standing.

For PSA:
* Awarded after first 2 years for being in the top 15% of your class.

Tell me which one you would rather see on an application.

I can't really argue w/ that....but then again I'm not complaining about being able to check SSP on eras

btw...I guess each school can set its own requirements for SSP b/c you need high grades + service to make it in here

 

[billytoanle]

Here is more information on Sigma Sigma Phi

http://www.tourossp.com

 

[medhacker]

I actually called AOA during my first year at NYCOM to inquire about this, and they said osteopathic schools can have an AOA chapter established as long as they have two faculty members who are AOA members. So yes, DO students are eligible.

You must have called the AOA = American osteopathic association and not alpha omega alpha.

 

[PeeWee137]

this is the dumbest thing i ever heard. why is ssp on eras when i got this fancy medal and certificate from psi sigma alpha. and nycom doesnt have a stupid ssp chapter so what gives

 

[ChiDO]

My question is why is there an official website for SSP but not the other? I can find nothing about PSA anywhere, other then a 1 sentence blurb.

 

[Jamers]

Our school's honor society is Psi Sigma Alpha. Has anyone heard of it? I asked our advisor, and he said both Psi Sigma Alpha and Sigma Sigma Phi are osteopathic honor societies, but Psi Sigma Alpha is the "more reknowned" one. I don't know if I believe him though, because I don't even see a website! Have we been fooled this whole time?!?

That and the requirements to get into SSP vary depending on the school which lowers its prestige a bit. I have actually heard of one school allowing all third years to become part of SSP with NO basis on grades.

 

[NeuroDocDO]

The Alpha Omega Alpha Equivalent for DO schools is PSA or Psi Sigma Alpha. PSA is an academic
honor society for the top 15% of the class whereas the SSP is a service fraternity with an academic requirement of being top 30% of the class. PSA is therefore more prestigious than SSP from an academic standpoint and more equivalent to Alpha Omega Alpha.

 

[ChiDO]

The Alpha Omega Alpha Equivalent for DO schools is PSA or Psi Sigma Alpha. PSA is an academic
honor society for the top 15% of the class whereas the SSP is a service fraternity with an academic requirement of being top 30% of the class. PSA is therefore more prestigious than SSP from an academic standpoint and more equivalent to Alpha Omega Alpha.

AOA = Has an official webstie
SSP = Has an official website
PSA = Has nothing anywhere

I tired searching online for PSA and the only thing that ever comes up is a thread on SDN about PSA. I only found 1 school that mentioned something about it as well.

 

[cyclohexanol]

AOA = Has an official webstie
SSP = Has an official website
PSA = Has nothing anywhere

I tired searching online for PSA and the only thing that ever comes up is a thread on SDN about PSA. I only found 1 school that mentioned something about it as well.

More importantly:
AOA = has a checkbox on ERAS
SSP = has a checkbox on ERAS
PSA = has no checkbox anywhere

 

[hooperg]

Seems like a good ol', all-American (pronounced uh-MER-kun), no-holds-barred urinating contest.

Pull out dems' units SSP crowd. Don't be shy PSA (how ironic ). I'll draw a line in the sand and you spray that golden glory till' your argument is won!

 

[MossPoh]

AOA gets you a cool subscription the the Pharos magazine as well. THE exclusive magazine of the AOA group.

 

[Jamers]

AOA gets you a cool subscription the the Pharos magazine as well. THE exclusive magazine of the AOA group.

Oh now I want to read it just because it is EXCLUSIVE. 🙁

 

[MossPoh]

Oh now I want to read it just because it is EXCLUSIVE. 🙁

Yea, my dad was AOA back in the 60s. There are actually some interesting articles in it once in a while.

 

[mentulbloc80]

NYCOM doesn't have the 'correct' honor society because it likes to punish its students

 

[rkaz]

More importantly:
AOA = has a checkbox on ERAS
SSP = has a checkbox on ERAS
PSA = has no checkbox anywhere

If being AOA makes a difference for residency applications (as opposed to PSA), then why can't we get AOA chapters in DO schools? Otherwise, DO students will be unfairly discriminated against when applying to allopathic residencies.... not because they didn't have the merit to get into AOA, but simply because their school didn't have a chapter. That's not right.

 

[mentulbloc80]

B.c we don't take the same 3rd year shelfs that aoa is based on.

 

[JonnyG]

B.c we don't take the same 3rd year shelfs that aoa is based on.

actually quite a few of the schools now use the shelf exams

 

[cyclohexanol]

If being AOA makes a difference for residency applications (as opposed to PSA), then why can't we get AOA chapters in DO schools? Otherwise, DO students will be unfairly discriminated against when applying to allopathic residencies.... not because they didn't have the merit to get into AOA, but simply because their school didn't have a chapter. That's not right.

There are plenty of MD schools which do not have an AOA chapter as well.