Community Service

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 three main event types:

Recruitment and chapter development 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.

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 National Service Project campaign "Covering the Uninsured and Protecting Access to Care." Some projects include organizing a chapter event for Cover the Uninsured Week in May; signing up local families for the State Children's Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP); and organizing a panel discussion of leaders on this issue.

Refer to the list of MSS project ideas for more ideas for CIG events. 

Students are strongly encouraged to share information about their events with the staff person who works with medical students at your state medical society. If you are unsure of who that person is, contact the MSS and we can provide the name to you. Your state medical society can be a great source of ideas and support for medical student projects.

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, 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!

Chapter Involvement Grant follow-up