What does it mean by being AOA???
What does it mean by being AOA???
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thedelicatessen
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AOA stands for Alpha Omega Alpha, the medical honor society, AKA a pretty big deal and something to strive for 🙂.
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It depends on your school. Sometimes it means you have the best grades in your class, other times it means you have good grades and good extracurriculars, or it can even just mean you know a lot of people.
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AOA in medical school is the equivalent of an honors society in any other academic institution. AOA looks good on a resume (usually) for people going for a competitive specialty. That said, having the AOA stamp is no guarantee that, with a good Step I score, you'll get that specialty or match where you want. As the previous posters have said, the process of getting in depends on your medical school.
N
njbmd
Do an allopathic forum search as this question has been discussed many times here. Short answer, AOA has two meanings in medicine. First, there is the American Osteopathic Association which is the osteopathic counterpart to the American Medical Association. Second, there is Alpha Omega Alpha, the honorary medical society that has chapters at many (but not all) allopathic medical schools.
The criteria for selection into the honorary medical society varies from chapter to chapter and from school to school. It's a terrific honor and it does open many doors but certainly, most allopathic medical students will never become members of Alpha Omega Alpha and will go on to extremely successful and satisfying careers in every specialty from the most competitive to the least competitive.
It's a nice honor to have and I wear my AOA pin very proudly but that pin doesn't see patients, perform surgeries, conduct research, teach medical students or interact with colleagues which are the best parts and the things I most enjoy about my practice of medicine anyway.
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