Medical student initiatives are divided into the following key areas: Global Health; Engagement; Professional Development; Philanthropy; and Advocacy. Don’t forget to sign up for our monthly Student Newsflash to receive updates on current local and national student initiatives!Initiatives
Global Health
AMWA’s Medical Student Global Health Initiative offers a variety of global health opportunities for medical students committed to serving underserved communities worldwide. These include travel grants, fellowships, scholarships, representation to the United Nations Department of Global Communications, and membership in the Medical Women’s International Association. Questions? Please email our Global Health Chair.
Engagement
Get a Mentor or Become a Mentor
Mentorship is at the heart of the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA), providing medical students with invaluable guidance and support at every stage of their journey. Through AMWA’s mentorship programs, students can connect with inspiring physician mentors, gain career insights, and receive advice on navigating medical school, residency, and beyond. Whether seeking one-on-one mentorship, peer support, or networking opportunities, AMWA fosters a strong community dedicated to empowering future women physicians. Join AMWA’s mentorship program and help shape your path to success! Questions? Please email our mentorship chair.
Join the AMWA Programming Subcommittee
Join AMWA’s Programming Subcommittee to help create impactful programs for medical student members! This is a unique opportunity to develop engaging events, educational initiatives, and leadership opportunities that empower future women physicians. Gain hands-on experience in program development, collaborate with passionate peers, and make a lasting impact on AMWA’s medical student community. If there is a program or a cause that you are passionate about, we would love to hear your ideas! To join our Programming Subcommittee, reach out to our Programming chair here.
Philanthropy
AMWA Students have a long history of serving their communities. Check out the list below for national and international volunteer opportunities for medical students!
Physicians Against the Trafficking of Humans (PATH)
Join the fight against human trafficking with AMWA’s Physicians Against the Trafficking of Humans (PATH) initiative. Founded in 2014, PATH is dedicated to equipping physicians, residents, and medical students with the knowledge and tools to identify and combat human trafficking. Explore our Learn to Identify and Fight Trafficking (LIFT) curriculum, and discover impactful opportunities to engage in research, advocacy, education, and social media outreach.
Passionate about making a difference in healthcare policy and addressing healthcare disparities? Join AMWA’s Medical Student Advocacy Subcommittee and take an active role in shaping the future of medicine! As a member, you’ll engage in legislative advocacy, public health initiatives, and grassroots efforts to advance policies that support women in medicine and the health of women. Gain valuable experience in policy writing, networking with leaders, and amplifying your voice on key issues. Whether you’re new to advocacy or a seasoned advocate, AMWA provides the platform, resources, and mentorship to help you lead change. Contact your local and national representatives and make your voice known. Get involved today and be the voice of the future!
Contact your Congressional and State Representatives, and send a letter through this simple online message form. Let them know that you stand with AMWA on important issues!
Learn more about AMWA’s advocacy initiatives, view Position Statements to learn where AMWA stands on issues, and view AMWA’s past advocacy efforts. Support a campaign during a health awareness month. Our Student Newsletter will also keep you up to date on monthly current events and advocacy resources.
Join the AMWA Student Division Advocacy Subcommittee by reaching out to our Advocacy Co-chairs here.
Past Affiliations and Projects
Pearl of Wisdom – The Pearl of Wisdom Campaign to Prevent Cervical Cancer is a united, global effort to raise awareness of the opportunities now available to prevent cervical cancer, launched in the U.S. in January 2009.
The Clothesline Project – The Clothesline Project is a program started in 1990 on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to address the issue of violence against women. It is a vehicle for women affected by violence to express their emotions by decorating a shirt. They then hang the shirt on a clothesline to be viewed by others as testimony to the problem of violence against women. With the support of many, it has since spread world-wide.
Global Health Opportunities
AMWA’s Medical Student Global Health initiative offers a variety of global health opportunities for medical students committed to serving underserved communities worldwide. These include travel grants, fellowships, scholarships, representation to the United Nations Department of Global Communications, and membership in the Medical Women’s International Association.
AMWA’s Medical Student Global Health initiative offers a variety of global health opportunities for medical students committed to serving underserved communities worldwide. These include travel grants, fellowships, scholarships, representation to the United Nations Department of Global Communications, and membership in the Medical Women’s International Association.
The Anne C. Carter Global Health Fellowship awards 4 (four) AMWA student members with a two-year fellowship focused on global health. The Carter Fellowship is both dynamic and multidisciplinary. The first year focuses on a global health curriculum, local project development, and mentorship. The second year focuses on in-depth planning and preparation for a medical service-learning trip (locally or internationally). The fellows selected for 2023- 2025 cohort will be the eleventh cohort of fellows and will be expected to actively work with their predecessors, as well as assist the subsequent class in their transition, to provide good continuity within the Fellowship.
Each Fellow will have approximately $1000 to fund her local project planning and to subsidize expenses for her local or international global health project. Fellows will not be required to travel abroad if medical school scheduling does not allow; however, all Fellows must plan a capstone project, even if the project addresses a more local global health issue.
For more information about the fellowship, please visit the Carter Fellow’s blog and check out the Fellowship Manual. Applications are accepted during the academic year beginning in August. Email completed applications and supplemental materials to [email protected]. Please submit applications only during the listed period. All applicants will receive email notification confirming receipt of application.
Applicants will be notified of the panel’s decision by email three weeks to four weeks after the application cycle’s deadline.
American Women’s Hospitals Services
The American Women’s Hospitals Service (AWHS) has a long history of providing health services to patients in emergent need. The service grew out of the commitment of a group of women physicians to treat the wounded in World War I. After the war, the AWHS continued throughout the 20th century to provide care during medical emergencies, establish public health services, and bring infectious disease treatment to underserved communities. Over time, it grew to include a focus on international health and was incorporated into AMWA in 1983.
AWHS provides grants of up to $1,500 for assistance with transportation costs associated with medical studies or service projects conducted in an off-campus setting where the medically neglected will benefit. Click here to learn more about AWHS or here to learn more about applying for an Overseas Assistance grant.
The goal of MWIA and yMWIA (young MIWA) is to promote the cooperation of medical women in different countries and to develop friendship and understanding between medical women throughout the world, while actively working against gender-related inequalities in the medical profession. MWIA and yMWIA also offer medical women the opportunity to meet and confer about questions concerning the health and well-being of all humans.
Through partnerships with women medical students internationally, AMWA works to share information about health systems and challenges around the world and to create clinical educational exchanges.
Finally, we are committed to maintaining a list of global health opportunities and resources that women medical students can access for assistance in finding educational and service opportunities throughout the world as well as places to publish and present their experiences upon return to their home institutions.
Child Family Health International (CFHI)
Child Family Health International (CFHI) is an NGO providing community-based Global Health Education Programs for students of all levels interested in health or medicine. Through CFHI participants go on 4-16 week placements alongside local healthcare professionals in Latin America, Africa, or India. Participants rotate through clinics and hospitals, attend medical lectures, and become immersed in the healthcare system of the community. CFHI supports underserved communities abroad and is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the ECOSOC of the United Nations.
CFHI and AMWA have partnered together to provide AMWA members with a yearly $500 scholarship towards a CFHI program. Please click here for more information.
