SLU AΩA Service Initiatives
Our Alpha Omega Alpha chapter is involved in several service initiatives at SLU SOM.
American Cancer Society: Hope Lodge
In the spirit of AOA’s mission to serve, the Saint Louis University Chapter became involved with the ACS Hope Lodge, which provides a free place to stay for patients and their families while undergoing cancer treatment. The space provides both a sense of community and access to medical care during challenging times. Medical students across all four years volunteered to help prepare and serve meals for 30-50 patients at Hope Lodge throughout the 2018-2019 school year. This provided a great opportunity to holistically care for patients while also hearing more about their stories.
Urban Harvest STL
One of the five tenets of AOA is community service. To highlight this, we began working with Urban Harvest STL in the fall of 2017. Urban Harvest is an organization that grows food on small urban farms around St. Louis. The produce they grow largely goes to individuals and families in the community who live in food deserts, or areas in the community without access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Each month during the growing and harvesting season, a small group of 10 students from all years in the medical school meet on a Saturday morning to volunteer. Not only have our students learned basic skills for growing and harvesting, but also about the disparities many of our patients face in their communities, such as lack of access to food. To learn more about how Urban Harvest STL is impacting the St. Louis community.
Student Development Series
The Student Development Series, started by the Class of 2017, gives the fourth year class an opportunity to mentor the first through third year classes through transition points in a series of panels and workshops. Topics include: opportunities in medical school and how to get involved, myths and misconceptions of Step 1, and specialty-specific fourth year planning.
Admissions Tours
Members of AOA have the opportunity to give tours to groups who are interviewing for positions in the incoming medical school class. Tours take place two times per week and include both the medical school campus and clinical areas (SLU Hospital or Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital).