Frequent communication is key to the success of any organization. Even when it feels like no one is reading your e-mail updates, keep sending them. Importantly, STAY IN CONTACT WITH NATIONAL APAMSA. Keep your regional directors and the national officers posted about your events. Please send in your Leadership Transition EACH time your chapter has elections. This will ensure you do not lose contact with National APAMSA.

Recruit First years! First years are essential for the longevity and success of the APAMSA chapter at your school. Some suggestions for increasing first year involvement:

• Send an intro to APAMSA letter to all accepted students before they arrive in the Fall. Many schools send out packets of information to their students and often will ask student groups if they’d like to include recruitment materials.

• Get involved with recruiting. When students come to visit for interviews or for revisits have APAMSA members get involved with some of the recruiting events, such as dinners, parties, or other social activities so people can get a feel for what APAMSA is before they arrive for medical school.

• Have elections/appoint one or more APAMSA 1st year reps onto your executive board. Also, appoint first years to coordinate some of your projects—such as health fairs, Diwali, lunar new years, etc

Take concerted steps to promote recruitment from the South Asian and Pacific Islander community. In this regard, it may help to publicize that APAMSA is the only NATIONAL organization which provides representation for ALL APIA medical students. Also, we suggest your APAMSA chapter work with existing APIA organizations in the area, whether in terms of jointly planning events, cross-publicizing each others’ functions, or both. Locally, these steps will help you to build a stronger APAMSA chapter, and nationally, they will also serve the deeper purpose of helping to unite the community — a step that will be vital in drawing this country’s attention to APIA health issues!

The success of any event requires that you advertise what you are going to do to the community you’re targeting. Contact your local school newspaper or local community newspapers about your events, ie health fairs, regional conferences, bone marrow drives, Hep B projects. Getting your chapter recognized by the press is not only good for APAMSA as a whole, but the rewards for your local chapter are tremendous. The deans of your medical school will be thrilled to know that your chapter is representing your school so well. When it comes time to ask them for funding, they will take your recognized efforts into account.

Serving as an APAMSA chapter officer is an incredible honor. You are in a position to educate and serve your community. Remember that members of APAMSA are in a unique position to do something about eliminating health disparities in the APIA community, so please participate in our National Service Projects to eliminate Hepatitis B and increase the Bone Marrow Donor Registrants. As an organization who understands and associates ourselves with APIA cultures, we have a responsibility to use our cultural understanding and our medical knowledge to improve the health and well-being of our communities.