Chapter Involvement Grants
Chapter Involvement Grants (CIG) are designed to provide an opportunity for medical student chapters to:
- Educate students about the AMA and provide an opportunity for students to get more involved
- Help put AMA policy into action by providing a service to medical school campuses or communities. Visit www.ama-assn.org/go/mss
- Engage in activities that focus on AMA’s top priorities. Learn more at the AMA Health Care Advocacy Agenda page.
Chapters are eligible to receive up to $1,000 per academic year for their chapter’s activities, with a maximum of $250 or $500 available for each event, depending on the type of event. Grant awards generally range from $150 to $500 per event, so we encourage you to organize several projects throughout the year. Please remember that funding is not guaranteed; each event will be evaluated on an individual basis.
CIGs are categorized into four main event types:
Recruitment Events
--Up to $500 available per event--
Apply for these grants if you would like to educate your colleagues about the importance of AMA membership and different ways to become involved in the AMA. Examples of these types of events include: member bring a non-member social, AMA representative present during lunch, meet and greet, etc. Please note, the AMA offers a Succeeding in Medical School (SIM) program that is separate from a CIG. If you wish to participate or learn more about SIMS, please visit the AMA's SIMS page.
Chapter Development Events
--Up to $250 available per event--
The AMA-MSS encourages chapters to provide individual development opportunities for their members. These grants focus on events that help to develop chapters and their members, such as educational sessions, workshops, retreats, and lunchtime seminars on various topics.
Community Service Events
--Up to $250 available per event--
The AMA and AMA-MSS have many policies that address topics that are relevant to public health, medical education, medical practice, patient safety and community outreach, to name just a few. Chapters are strongly encouraged to use the grants as "seed money" to support a project that has start-up costs, but can then be maintained for little or no money. Examples of projects in this area include: starting a music library at a local hospital that is periodically staffed by chapter members; organizing a workshop to train students on vision screenings so that they can do screenings in the community throughout the year, day care centers; or purchasing blood pressure cuffs for use in hypertension screenings.
National Service Project Events
--Up to $500 available per event--
These grants focus on our current AMA-MSS National Service Project, the AMA Healthier Life Steps™ program. Projects might include events such as health fairs or healthy cooking demonstrations.
Refer to the list of MSS project ideas for more ideas for CIG events.
Your school and your state medical society can be great sources of ideas and support for medical student projects. Students are strongly encouraged to share CIG event information with medical school staff and faculty as well as with state medical society staff who work with medical students. If you are unsure of who to contact at your medical school or state medical society, please contact the MSS, and we will provide you with the necessary contact information.
Complete the online CIG application at least 30 days before the scheduled event. Students will be notified of applications that are incomplete. All incomplete applications must be completed within two weeks of notification of missing information or they will not be considered.
Please note that all chapters receiving CIG funding are required to complete a follow-up CIG Evaluation Form within 30 days of the event. A chapter can not apply for another grant until evaluation forms have been completed for all prior events.
Be sure to review the guidelines before completing an application. If you have any questions about CIGs, please contact the MSS.
All local chapter projects, while funded by the Medical Student Section of the American Medical Association, shall be administered and controlled by the local chapter. The local chapter shall retain ownership of the project, and its name must be on all publicity and promotional materials (e.g., The University of _____ Chapter of the AMA Medical Student Section). No program materials or participants shall suggest or imply that the project is administered or endorsed by the American Medical Association (“AMA”), including the Medical Student Section, or that the chapter or participants are acting as agents of AMA, including the Medical Student Section. Any other and/or additional use of the AMA name or logo by the local chapter must be reviewed and approved in advance and in writing by the AMA.
CIG funded events must be consistent with AMA policies, including policies that prohibit discrimination of any sort. AMA will not provide funding for certain types of activities or costs such as, but not limited to: travel costs (including reimbursement for gasoline, hotels, airline, rental cars), alcoholic beverages, events at bars, door prizes/raffles, guest speakers, t-shirts, community projects that require blood draws, shots, etc.
Chapter Involvement Grant application
Put your student programs into action - apply now for an MSS Chapter Involvement Grant!
