Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society inducts 57 new members

The Delta chapter of the Alpha Omega Alpha (AΩA) Honor Medical Society welcomed 57 new members, including 40 T.H. Chan School of Medicine students in the Class of 2027, four faculty members and 13 house staff in an induction ceremony on Monday, Nov. 2.

“Alpha Omega Alpha was founded to emphasize worthiness to practice medicine with humility, charity and the objective to achieve a high moral and professional standard,” said Terence R. Flotte, MD, the Elisabeth Chair for the Dean of Medicine, executive deputy chancellor, provost and dean of the T.H. Chan School of Medicine and the chapter’s councilor, in opening remarks. “You are the newest AΩA members and you've been elected because you have achieved academic excellence and also excelled in many other areas of service, reflecting the best attributes of physicians in our world.” 

“Medical knowledge and technical aptitude are nothing without sound judgment, humanism and responsibility to others,” said Chancellor David D. McManus, MD’02, ScM’12, MBA, in his keynote address. “You are precisely the kind of humans we aspire to develop into physicians.”

Members are selected based on educational achievement, leadership, supporting the ideals of humanism and promoting service to others. 

At the time of the selection process, there were 205 students in the Class of 2027 who were all considered. The committee assessed academic records, self-assessments, CVs, medical student performance evaluations and chose 20 percent of the class for induction.

Student inductees were recognized for their community contributions, serving as tutors and mentors for immigrant adolescents, founding and leading a critical care interest group, volunteering as a student coordinator of a free wound care clinic, and more.

Newly inducted medical student Alexander Hamel, selected for leading a student interest group and for his dedication to the UMass Chan Medical School student community, serving as a house representative, house chair, and House Cup chair for Burncoat Learning Community, was chosen as the AΩA student speaker. He reflected on what it means to become a physician and the significance of his White Coat Ceremony, as the first in his family to attend college.

“Growing up, every time I met a doctor felt like I was meeting a celebrity,” said Hamel, an aspiring pediatric rehabilitation physician. “Whether or not any of them were AΩA members never crossed my mind, nor did it shape the impact they had on my life. Their excellence was evident in the way they cared for their patients and inspired a young kid to become a physician himself. Medical excellence is not reserved for those who receive distinction, and contributing to its mission doesn't require AΩA membership. The difference is that AΩA membership necessitates it. Keep showing up for others, keep saying yes and remember how your past self would look up to you now.”

Four faculty and 13 house staff members (interns, residents and fellows) were also inducted.

The 2027 AΩA inductees are: