Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association
APAMSA
APAMSA is a medical student-run organization at UCLA DGSOM dedicated to the establishment of a medical system that provides culturally competent services, resources, support, and community education to underserved APIA communities as well as the larger underserved population.
Our Mission Statement
APAMSA is a medical student-run organization at UCLA DGSOM dedicated to the establishment of a medical system that provides culturally competent services, resources, support, and community education to underserved APIA communities as well as the larger underserved population. We are committed to political advocacy, improving APIA representation in the bone marrow registry, and providing services to those at risk for hepatitis B. We seek the professional development of medical students and undergraduates interested in APIA health though building a community with other medical students, faculty, physicians, and other health professionals.
What We Do
APAMSA, in conjunction with its UCLA undergraduate partner APA Health CARE, maintains a strong presence in the Asian Pacific American communities throughout the greater Los Angeles area. The majority of our community efforts focus on health fairs where we provide BMI, hip-to-waist measures, blood pressures, and physician consultations to mostly uninsured and limited English proficiency Asian Pacific American clients. We do this with the ultimate goal of connecting these individuals into regular sources of care. Most notably, we shine in our ability to adapt our services to the populations we aim to serve by providing materials such as intake forms health educational materials in various Asian languages (Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Korean, etc.) and having translators on site at our fairs. We see over 300 clients across annually throughout our various community engagement activities. We have also taken steps towards breast cancer and cervical cancer screening education in our target population with the help of the California Health Collaborative and the Every Woman Counts program. In Los Angeles County, Asian Pacific American women have the lowest mammogram and Pap smear rates out of any racial/ethnic group. We recognize that there are needs that we can help address. APAMSA continues to collaborate with non-profit community organizations who invite us to their health fairs and help us learn more about the health disparities that we don’t cover in the medical school curriculum. We strive to serve the community, learn from the community, and build community in our efforts to reduce health disparities.
Past Events
Check out event highlights from the 2023-2024 academic year!
Celebrating Lunar New Year with our annual AAPI Alliance Faculty & Student Dinner.
Bringing Lunar New Year to DGSOM with dumplings, lantern-making, and songs!
Mentorship Social with UCLA undergraduate organizations Asian Pacific American Health Care (APAHC) and the Vietnamese Community Health Project (VCH).
Executive Officers presenting research at the 2024 National APAMSA Conference.
El Monte Health Fair in partnership with EFCLA. Medical students conducted blood pressure measurements, vision screenings, mini-cog assessments, and PHQ-9 evaluations for community members.
Acupuncture workshop with Dr. Mary Fok, an attending and clinical instructor at the UCLA Center for East-West Medicine. Students learned the basics of acupuncture in theory and practiced in our integrative health sessions.