Medical Student Component Community Service Guidelines
At the 2006 Annual House of Delegates Meeting in Chicago, the delegates in attendance expressed interest in giving back to their communities via the ASA. We hope that students visiting this website will undertake some of these projects at their institutions.
- On the national level the ASA is closely affiliated with the AMA. Therefore students in Anesthesiology Interest Groups around the nation can do joint community service projects with your local AMA chapter.
- Prospective Anesthesiologists could be very well suited to projects including health fairs in the local community or offering weight and blood pressure checks before local races (5K and 10K runs).
- Students may also consider becoming BLS instructors, and then teaching these skills to local families( particularly important in places such as Florida where many families have pools and small children.) these skills can also help the elderly population living in retirement and assisted living communities.
- If your school Anesthesiology Interest Group chapter has access to a human patient simulator, your group could consider hosting local middle and high school students to teach about the adverse effects of drugs and alcohol on human physiology.
- Another volunteering opportunity for students includes pre-op visits with pediatric patients, complete with toys, playtime, or storytelling. We suggest visiting the pediatric pre-op holding and talking to families with the anesthesiology provider or before. Also, another possible method might include visits to surgery clinic, with the surgeon's permission.