AOA Election Process for Students at Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth

There are two parts to AOA Selection
Part I – Establishing academic eligibility & inviting eligible students to apply
Part II - Application review, scoring and final election of candidates

Part I

Establishing academic eligibility

Background: AOA distinguishes itself from other awards, like Gold Humanism Honor Society, because academic performance is a factor in selection. Previously at Geisel, only the top 25% of students were eligible (based solely on clerkship grades since the pre-clinical period became pass/fail). In 2020-2021, we changed our threshold to the top 40% academically to determine eligibility, and the methods used to make that determination have been broadened and include multiple sources of data:

  1. Pre-clinical: Phase I pre-clinical deans will solicit nominations from the pre-clinical/Phase I course directors, make their own nominations from global performance, and compile and submit names. Criteria for nomination: Academic excellence as defined by a combination of performance in assessments, didactics and small groups, intellectual curiosity, collegiality, teamwork, academic integrity, and peer assistance and support. Top 40% were assigned 2 points each.
  2. Clinical: Phase II dean will solicit nominations from the clerkship directors, make their own nominations from global performance, compile and submit names. Criteria for nomination: Academic excellence as defined by a combination of performance in assessments, didactics and small groups, intellectual curiosity, collegiality, teamwork, academic integrity, and peer assistance and support. Top 40% were assigned 3 points each.

Cross reference above data sets to generate a list of the 40% of the class with highest scores, who will be the student pool eligible to apply for AOA. Final list to be submitted to the chair of the CPSC to identify any validated professionalism issues. Validated professionalism issues negate eligibility.

Notification of Students

  1. Invite the eligible students to apply to the Geisel Chapter of AOA (process below)
  2. Notify all students in the graduating class that invitations had been sent. If a student thinks that their past academic performance is strong enough that they should have been invited to apply, they may submit an appeal.

Part II

Application process for eligible students

  1. Students fill out a standard application, designed to highlight activities that fulfill AOA national criteria (scholarship & research, community and school service, leadership, professionalism and ethics)

Application Review and Election of Students

  1. All applications are de-identified and reviewed in blinded fashion
  2. All applications are reviewed by two AOA Election Committee members and scored independently using a standard scoring rubric. Final score for each applicant then determined by consensus of the two committee members.
  3. Councilor reviews all applications and scoring to ensure interobserver consistency in application of the rubric.

Final Election

  1. Final list based on scores from the application
  2. 20% of the Geisel graduating class can be elected each year
  3. Final list to be vetted by AOA executive board

AOA Election Committee Members

  • David Mullins PhD
  • Nancy McNulty MD
  • Meghan Freed MD
  • Campbell Levy MD
  • Tim Gardner MD
  • Roshini Pinto-Powell MD
  • Diana Rojas-Soto MD
  • Kari Rosenkranz MD
  • Wayne Moschetti MD, MS
  • Brent White MD
  • Alicia Dagrosa MD, MBA
  • Reto Baertschiger MD, PhD
  • Kenton Powell MD
  • Thadeus Trus MD
  • Alice Jo MD
  • Jennifer Stableford MD