The Pulse

Alpha Omega Alpha

Founded in 1902, Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) is a medical honor society dedicated to the belief that we can improve care for all by recognizing high educational achievement, honoring gifted teaching, encouraging the development of leaders in academia and the community, supporting the ideals of humanism, and promoting service to others. Election to Alpha Omega Alpha signifies a lasting commitment to scholarship, leadership, professionalism, and service. Membership in the society confers recognition of someone’s dedication to the profession and art of healing. NEOMED’s Zeta chapter of AOA was founded in 1982 and is proud to induct new medical students, residents, alumni, and faculty into the chapter each year.

Eligibility for Student Nomination

For medical students, those with scholastic qualifications that place them in the upper 25% of the class are eligible for AOA nomination. Per AOA requirements, each AOA chapter may select up to 20% of its graduating class for AOA selection. Scholastic achievement is the primary but not the sole basis for nomination. Other considerations include a candidate’s track record of leadership, ethical standards, professionalism, service, scholarly work and potential for achievement in medicine. Any candidate with a record of professionalism offense may be removed from consideration for AOA by the selection committee and/or the Assistant Dean of Student Affairs.

Selection Process

Medical students who choose to apply for AOA are reviewed by a committee of faculty and students. The faculty committee members who have previously been elected to AOA. The students on the committee are the AOA President, Vice President and Secretary. In order to ensure consistency and equity, applications are blinded and a team of one faculty member and one student is assigned to each of the 3 sections of the application (research, leadership and service). The team then reviews and scores their assigned section for all candidates using a standardized rubric. Scores for each section are presented to the selection committee for voting.

Identification of Candidates

AOA selection occurs in the summer for senior selection and early fall for junior selection.

Students are eligible for consideration for junior-year selection if they are in the top 25% of the class based on overall rank at the end of M2 Year.  Transfer students are eligible for junior-year consideration if they are in the top 25% of the class for the M2 year only. Students who are “off track” because of an enrichment LOA between M2 and M3 or other reasons are also considered if they were in the top 25% of their class at the end of M2.

Students are eligible for consideration for senior-year selection if they are in the top 25% of the class based on overall rank at the end of M3 Year.  Transfer students are eligible for senior-year consideration if they are in the top 25% of the class for the M3 year only. Students who are “off track” because of an enrichment LOA between M3 and M4 or other reasons are also considered if they were in the top 25% of their class at the end of M3.  Once the class rank list is obtained from the Registrar, the AOA Administrator sends an invitation to apply to AOA via email to all students ranked in the top quartile. Student members of the Selection Committee are not provided with student class rank or Step scores.

Resident, Faculty, and Alumni Nominations

Each AOA chapter may elect Residents/Fellows, Faculty, and Alumni who have never previously been elected to AOA. Residents/Fellows, alumni, and faculty are nominated for membership by current AOA members.  Each AOA chapter may elect up to 25 residents/fellows, 10 faculty, and 5 alumni (must be 10 years post-graduation). Nominated parties are evaluated for continued academic and professional achievement, leadership, professionalism, service, teaching, and research based on their CV and an optional letter of endorsement. Elections for Residents, Faculty, and Alumni take place once a year, in mid-January, and follow the same election format as for medical student nominees.

Timeline

  • Early August: Invitations to senior-year candidates
  • Mid August: Invitations to junior-year candidates
  • End August: Senior-year selection meeting
  • Early-mid September: AOA designation added to MSPE
  • Mid October: Junior-year selection meeting
  • Early December: Invitation to residents, faculty and alumni
  • Mid January: Resident, faculty and alumni selection meeting
  • AOA Induction Banquet, NEOMED: March 2, 2026 at 5:30 p.m.

Statement on Diversity in AOA

The NEOMED Zeta chapter of AOA is committed to recognizing the work and achievements of our diverse student body. We have worked diligently to continually make the election process more objective and to recognize and remove potential opportunities for bias. Per the national AOA website, “AΩA advocates for diversity in all its forms when identifying candidates for nomination – identity, cultural, geographic, experiential, race, ethnicity, gender, age, economic and social status, physical abilities, aptitude, religious beliefs, political beliefs, and other ideologies.”

Officers & Faculty Advisors

2025 AOA Faculty, Alumni, and resident inductees

  • Alumni: Danielle Cooper, MD (’00) and Rahul Damania, MD (’16)
  • Faculty: Jennifer W. Baccon, MD, PhD, MHCM, Jason Kolb, MD, Farid Muakkassa, MD, Christopher Page-Goertz, MD, FAAP, Joseph Posluszny, MD,
  • Residents/Fellows: John Abdelnour, MD (’22), Viraj Bhatt, MD, Tyler Stumm, MD

CLASS OF 2026, JUNIOR INDUCTEES

  • Samuel Accordino
  • Amanda Alejo
  • Erin Beskitt
  • Thomas Cahill
  • Hana Elsheemy
  • Andrew Fiorentino
  • Shaarav Ghose
  • Joshua Harris
  • Sean Hergenrother
  • Jared Hinton
  • Antoinette Holland
  • Joseph Kessler
  • Quan Lu
  • Amanda Milo
  • Riley Moberly
  • Kenneddy Nkachukwu
  • McKenzie Parks
  • Bryce Pember
  • Leo Puhalla
  • James Raynor
  • Nathan Ryan
  • Katelyn Sidloski
  • Sydney Smith
  • Sophia Vemulapalli

 

CLASS OF 2026, SENIOR INDUCTEES

  • Nathaniel Abdelnour
  • Emily Arellano
  • Adiaratou Ba
  • Sydney Bitting
  • Maximilian Dawson
  • Mustafa Husein
  • Saichidroopi Korada
  • Samantha Perry
  • Brandon Petrovich
  • John Wenger

 

CLASS OF 2027, JUNIOR INDUCTEES

  • Abdullah Ali
  • Sarah Apte
  • Julianna Bailey
  • Hunter Block-Beach
  • Matthew Bonfiglio
  • Umida Burkhanova
  • Mason Covel
  • Nathan Cuttica
  • Madeline Evan
  • Pete Jordanides
  • Alexander Keith
  • Alexie Kindy
  • Michael Kowalski
  • Christine Lo Verde
  • Ryan Muakkassa
  • Isaiah Murray
  • Nariaki Nakamura
  • Sabrina Sadr
  • Julianna Sandine
  • Jian Shi
  • Ethan Sontz
  • Jeffrey Toman
  • Mark Villers
  • Colton Wade
  • Elizabeth Whetstone
  • Alex You

CONTACT

Harmony Stanger, M.B.A.
Assistant Director, Student Affairs
Phone: 330-325-6719
Email: hstanger@neomed.edu

Campus Life

College of Medicine at NEOMED