AMSA

Hello all current and prospective GT AMSA members,

We have had a lot of people join AMSA this semester; we are all really excited to have you become a part of our club! However, a number of people who said that they were interested in becoming AMSA members have yet to officially join. We think that there may be less people joining AMSA because of the price of dues. We realize that $90 for freshmen and first time national members is a big upfront cost but remember that after this year, you will only have to pay $15 total for the remainder of your time at Georgia Tech, since that includes your $75 dues for 5 years of membership to national AMSA. For upperclassmen, your national membership benefits are valid for 5 years; an important benefit of membership after you graduate will be the option of student health insurance from United Healthcare. Unfortunately, the $75 national dues are not optional and we have no way of altering that amount so we wanted to remind all of you just exactly what that money goes towards. The Kaplan discount is valid during your 5 year membership in AMSA. As you can see, your AMSA dues pay for themselves when you consider the discount off of your test prep!

National Benefits:
$200 Stackable Discount Off a Kaplan MCAT Prep Course (combined with their current promotion, one could save up to $400 which by itself makes up for the $75 dues)

5% Off Discount and Free Shipping from the AMSA/Barnes&Noble.com Bookstore

Student Health Insurance from United Healthcare (once graduated, students no longer have access to Stamps Health Services at Georgia Tech so having insurance is vital)

Up to 8% off Auto Insurance from Geico

Up to 70% off Contact Lenses from VisionDirect.com

15% Off and More from Choice Hotels (includes over 6,000 locations at hotels such as Comfort Inn, Quality Inn, Clarion, etc.)

Up to 20% Discount and Free Day Rental from National and Alamo Car Rental

5 Year Subscription to New Physician Magazine

Opportunities to attend National and Regional Medical Conferences

Access to AMSA-Sponsored Internships around the nation (included are the Education & Advocacy Internship and Health Justice Internship)

Information about the above benefits and more can be found here: http://www.amsa.org/amsa/homepage/membercenter/memberbenefits.aspx

For those of you who were members of AMSA in the past, you may have noticed that we changed our local dues system. This was done in response to the change in the National due system. We also set it up in the tiered system so as to promote retention of upperclassman. By decreasing GT AMSA dues each year that you belong to National AMSA, we are rewarding you for staying committed to the organization! By paying your local dues, we are able to provide professional, social, and fun benefits to our members. Many of the opportunities afforded to you by GT AMSA are invaluable in themselves but several come with a price tag. Below is an outline of these opportunities:

Local Benefits:

$200 Stackable Discount Off Atlanta-area Princeton Review MCAT Prep Course (for more information email Hally Pinaud at hpinaud@review.com)
Opportunity to Win a $250 Scholarship from GT AMSA (rewarded to those most involved in AMSA)

Food and Drinks at All Meetings, as well as Our Two Formal Banquets Held Each Year
One-on-one Contact with Professional and Graduate School Admissions Directors and Current Students (it is never too early to get your name out there!)
Discount on Registration Fee for Annual Pre-Health Conference in the Spring
Trips to Volunteering Organizations Around Atlanta Including MedShare, Trinity Soup Kitchen, and others

Chances to Perform Job Shadowing in Clinical Settings (extremely important for applications!)
Opportunity to Participate in International and Local Mission Trips (for more information, email our Mission Trips Coordinator Melissa Parham at mmparham@gatech.edu)
Ability to Join our Mentorship Program that Connects Underclassman with Upperclassman to Provide Access to the Invaluable Knowledge of Upperclassman

Access to Our Ever-growing Network of Pre-Health Students Here at Georgia Tech!
Hopefully, by seeing exactly where your dues are going, you all will be more eager to join! The benefits clearly outweigh the costs, and that does not even include the amount of fun that you will have during all the meetings and events.


As always, feel free to email anyone of us about information regarding local or national AMSA:
Robin Jacob (Co-President) - rjacob3@gatech.edu
Karan Patel (Co-President) - kpatel@gatech.edu
Chris Lane (Co-Recruitment Chair) - clane9@gatech.edu
Naman Kanakiya (Co-Recruitment Chair) - naman@gatech.edu