AAAOM-Student Organization Council Spring Board Meeting Wrap Up

It’s springtime, and that means Northwestern Health Sciences University (home of the Minnesota College of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine) hosts the Great River Symposium--an Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Conference. Based in Bloomington, Minnesota, Northwestern has hosted the Great River Symposium for the past 8 years.

Exciting discussions of different healing modalities and exhibitors promoting product and samples all echoed through the halls of this amazing school.

A conference, of course, is not complete without exposure to the vast expanse of this medicine through classes and lectures. This year keynote speaker and main lecturer Dr. Richard Tan discussed his simple, supremely logical and direct approaches to acupuncture treatment. His straightforward yet elegant measure in discussing the harmonizing aspects of acupuncture treatment had the audience asking for more.

This was the second year that the spring board meeting of the AAAOM-SOC (Student Organization Council) was hosted by Northwestern. During the conference, ten of the thirteen board members met for twelve hours over the course of three days to discuss the direction, progress, and operations of the AAAOM-SO. Each board member and the committee chairs presented their bi-annual reports to the other members. Committees and task forces include Media Publications, Legislative, Membership Development, Conference, and Elections. Each committee/task force is chaired by two SOC members.

Bylaw amendments were also proposed at the meeting. The SOC is proud to have established bylaws within its first year, with potential amendments proposed at bi-annual meetings. The SOC also voted unanimously to pay for the conference fee for one student from each school that has a local chapter established at least 30 days prior to the start of each AAAOM annual conference. Melissa Monroe, SW Pacific regional director the past two years and Media Publications Committee co-chair, was unanimously voted to the vacant co-president elect position. Congratulations and thank you Melissa for your dedication!

Also discussed were the itinerary for the Student Caucus to be held at the October AAAOM Conference (this year in Chicago, October 16-20), the planning of a much improved election process, and the AAAOM/AAAOM-SO silent auction held at the annual conference. The spring board meeting wrapped up with a discussion of joint committee work with the AAAOM, as well as SOC strengths, weaknesses, and goals.

The main focus of the AAAOM-SO has been to increase student membership throughout the country to create a unified voice to support of the growth of acupuncture and Oriental medicine as a profession. We believe in strength in numbers, and as we grow, we need to speak loudly and proudly that we are an important part of the future of the health care in this country.

The March Membership Drive was a tremendous success! We now have approximately 1200 AAAOM-Student Organization members as of April 1, 2008! This is up from just over 300 in October of 2006, which means we have grown 4 times larger in just a year and a half. This is the only national organization for students of acupuncture and Oriental medicine, and with numbers increasing like this, we hope to have a real impact on the growth of this profession. Students from across the country have shown amazing passion and enthusiasm. Let’s keep those numbers climbing!

There have been eight local chapters created, with three more nearly completed. The regional directors keep in continuous close touch with administrative and student representatives at each of the 50 schools, and they can help you to start a local chapter at your school. It’s a new generation, and there’s a rush of energy! Join us and help support your cause- the cause to bring health care back to health and care.