Ways to Get Involved
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AACOM Advocacy Day
Join osteopathic advocates to support AACOM’s federal policy priorities! AACOM Advocacy Day features Members of Congress, congressional staff and government relations professionals in virtual informational panels presenting on the state of Congress, effective advocacy tools and AACOM’s public policy priorities including student and residency issues.
The event includes opportunities for online advocacy and virtual meetings to communicate with Congress in support of policies and programs critical to osteopathic medical schools, students, residents and physicians.
Your voice matters! Learn how to participate in AACOM Advocacy Day.
AACOM’s Talent Bank
If you'd like to serve on federal or state commissions or organizational boards and task forces where student representation is needed then join the AACOM Talent Bank. Your registration does not obligate you to serve in a particular role but will demonstrate your interest. AACOM will seek your approval prior to nomination or media outreach.
Translating Osteopathic Understanding into Community Health Program
The Translating Osteopathic Understanding into Community Health (TOUCH) Program is a national initiative of the Council of Osteopathic Student Government Presidents (COSGP).
Its goal is to encourage osteopathic medical students to engage in service throughout their community, in order to impact those outside of osteopathic medical students and professionals, for the purpose of expanding the osteopathic ideals and principles to those unaware of our professional values.
Osteopathic medical students complete TOUCH approved events in the community and submit their hours to a national database. Recognition is given to students who achieve 50 hours, 100 hours, or the most hours on a campus in a given year.
Examples of TOUCH approved events include volunteer medical services, political advocacy, and global outreach.
National Osteopathic Student Government Caucus (NOSC)
The NOSC is a once a year forum that allows all osteopathic medical students to voice their opinions on AOA House of Delegates resolutions that affect students, residents and the osteopathic profession. The caucus was started over 10 years ago and is an event that COSGP hosts with leaders from different student organizations including the Student Osteopathic Medical Association (SOMA), the Student American Academy of Osteopathy (SAAO), and the American Medical Student Association (AMSA).
The resolutions for discussion are selected based on their impact on students/residents, ability to warrant discussion, and effect on medical education. After the caucus, student leaders from these different organizations form an executive board
that will deliberate each resolution based on the comments made during the caucus. The national student opinion will be based on these deliberations with the final official opinion then distributed to all students to use at the AOA House of
Delegates.
For more information about the date and time of NOSC, please contact the COSGP Parliamentarian at COSGPParliamentarian@aacom.org.
National Osteopathic Medicine (NOM) Week
National Osteopathic Medicine (NOM) Week brings the osteopathic medical profession together to focus on one common goal – increasing awareness of osteopathic medicine and the osteopathic profession. Each NOM week, COSGP works with the COMs to raise awareness of the profession and volunteer in their community. NOM Week offers members of the osteopathic community a great opportunity to advocate for OME policy priorities, such as the FAIR Act, expanding physician training in rural areas and increasing funding for osteopathic research. This year’s NOM Week is scheduled for April 17-23, 2023. Check back soon for more information and additional opportunities through the OME Advocate.
Osteopathic Health Policy Internship Program
The Osteopathic Health Policy Internship (OHPI) Program enables osteopathic medical students to spend eight consecutive weeks working virtually
with AACOM's Government Relations (GR) department. The OHPI Program affords osteopathic medical students the opportunity to learn about and advance AACOM GR’s legislative and regulatory advocacy priorities, such as the FAIR Act, rural healthcare,
student financial aid and osteopathic research funding. Past interns have gone on to become healthcare policy leaders, such as Policy Committee Chair of the AOGME Residents and Fellows Council and Vice-Chair of Health Policy at the Emergency Medicine
Residents Association.