Join the Student Council

The AOCPMR Student Council consists of eight committees that work hand in hand to provide medical students pursuing PM&R with guidance and resources. Become a member to get involved!

President

• Chair and preside over monthly meetings of the Student Council and other meetings as necessary
• Oversee the Student Council officers & chairs to ensure that the duties of these positions are appropriately performed
• Work directly with Executive Director on college decisions, planning of the Mid-Year Meeting, and all other matters relevant to the Student Council
• Assist student and resident representatives in identifying activities and opportunities to strengthen relationships among PM&R students and residents 
• Serve as the AOCPMR Student representative member, attending and updating the Resident and Executive Physician Council 
• Present a summary of all resident council activities to the executive council on national conference calls and at meetings
• Work with the executive board to create a monthly newsletter to be sent out to all members
• Review applications for the next cohort of the Student Council

For any questions about this position feel free to contact the current President: 

Don Afful: [email protected]

Vice President

• Assist President with monthly tasks & decisions, and serve in the absence of the president on resident & executive council

• Lead the monthly Student Council calls during the updates & goals section of the call

• Assist chair members with monthly goals and projects

• Oversee the distribution of the end of the year report to ensure smooth transition

For any questions about this position feel free to contact the current Vice President: 

Alex Fazioli: [email protected]

Secretary/ Treasurer

• Take notes/minutes on the monthly Student Council conference calls and distribute these minutes to resident council and pertinent AOCPMR members
• Prepare & consolidate the monthly goals before the Student Council conference calls
• Retrieve and distribute contact information for members, mentors and speakers
• Assist in distribution of national forms such as membership applications, etc. as requested by other resident council members or AOCPMR members
• Assist with Vice President and President with monthly tasks and decisions

For any questions about this position feel free to contact the current Secretary: Diana Nguyen: [email protected]

Research Committee

The AOCPMR Student Research Committee's main duties include overseeing and writing articles for the Journal Club, overseeing applications for the Exemplary Service Award and Student Research Grant, and creating "How To" educational presentations relevant to research. We also work closely with the Social Media Committee to create Student Research Spotlights for Instagram and Twitter and the Website Committee to design and upload documents relevant to our responsibilities above. Future goals for the committee include increasing research collaboration and mentorship opportunities for students.

For any questions about this committee feel free to contact the current co-chairs:
Bethany Kavalakatt

Akinchita Kumar

Digital Multimedia Committee

The AOCPMR Student Council Public Relations co-chairs build and maintain a positive public image for the organization. We create media, such as podcasts and flyers that educate the public about physiatry and increase awareness of AOCPMR and all it has to offer.

For any questions about this committee feel free to contact the current co-chairs:
Jesus J. Alvarado Salinas

Ryan Pierce Russell

Leah Goehring

Education Committee

The AOCPMR Student Education Committee is responsible for creating and managing educational materials AOCPMR student members, including materials for the COMLEX PE, educational materials for clinical rotations, introductory documents for commonly used procedures in PMR such as ultrasound, and more. The Education Committee works closely with the other committees as well as the Resident Council to ensure that the educational material is both helpful as well as up-to-date with current PMR research. Future goals for the committee include continuing to create educational material for common topics in PMR as well as consolidate materials relevant for medical students that can be easily referenced.

For any questions about this committee feel free to contact the current co-chairs:
Gerardo Rivera

Austin Miller

Gillian Mathews

Membership Committee

The AOCPMR Student Council Membership Committee is comprised of two Co-Chairs and six Regional Directors that cover each osteopathic medical school across the country. The goal each year of this committee is to increase student membership, which is accomplished through many different routes of communication to each medical school throughout the school year. Regional Directors stay in constant contact with local chapter presidents, medical school administration, and local contacts via email to provide information about the benefits and advantages to becoming an AOCPMR Student Member. In addition to this, this committee provides AOCPMR as a whole with an efficient route of send information quickly to each chapter. The Membership Committee also coordinates with other committees on projects such as: Journal Club (Research Committee), Research Spotlight (Research Committee), and Chapter Starter Packs (PR Committee).

For any questions about this committee feel free to contact the current co-chairs:
Ryan Keller

Carli Williams

Mentorship Committee

The AOCPMR Mentorship Committee’s main goal is to pair medical students with physiatrists to create a way for both parties to develop professionally. Each year the committee also works on expanding methods to advertise the service, further foster existing relationships, and maintain connections with the mentors and mentees.

For any questions about this committee feel free to contact the current co-chairs:
Eric T. Nguyen

Abigail Rodgers

The National Conference Committee is tasked with planning the student component to the annual Mid Year Meeting. We focus on scheduling speakers, recruiting student attendees from all of the AOCPMR chapters nation-wide, as well as gathering representatives from many residencies to be present during the residency fair at the conference. Additionally, we work alongside the physician leaders of AOCPMR in planning the MYM and making sure the students have a role in the conference’s activities and events. We all work together as a team to accomplish our tasks and delegate the roles accordingly so that our MYM will be a successful event.

For any questions about this committee feel free to contact the current co-chairs:
Sarah Andrade

Madeleine Smith 

Justin Kai-Ming Yeung

Social Media Committee

The Social Media Committee serves to create content and disseminate information from the various sub-committees of the AOCPMR Student Council. We coordinate with the leads of each committee to create campaigns to encourage membership, attendance at events and conferences, and foster discussion related to PM&R.

For any questions about this committee feel free to contact the current co-chairs:
Claudio Velardo 

Maha Ighanifard