How to Use AMSA to Practice Policy Advocacy Before Med School Starts

You are four months out from starting medical school. Your financial aid portal just opened, you are half-heartedly working a summer job, and there is this nagging thought in the back of your mind: “I care about health policy and advocacy… but I have no idea how to actually do it before M1 starts.” Everyone keeps saying “get involved with AMSA,” yet no one can tell you specifically what that looks like as a premed about to transition into medical school.

Let me break this down very concretely: how to use AMSA as a practice ground for policy advocacy before day one of orientation.

We are not talking about vague “get involved” advice. We are talking about:

• Which AMSA structures to plug into as a premed
• Exactly what types of advocacy tasks you can practice
• How to build real deliverables (testimony, one-pagers, lobby scripts) you can reuse in med school
• How to position this experience so it matters for your future residency applications and beyond

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1. Understand What AMSA Actually Offers Premeds

Before you can use AMSA as an advocacy lab, you need to understand the apparatus.

AMSA is not just “a club for med students.” It has:

• Premed membership tiers (including national and chapter-based)
• Formal policy-making processes (House of Delegates, policy resolutions)
• Campaigns and action committees focused on specific issues
• National and regional leadership roles that are open to premeds, not just MD/DO students

The structures that matter for advocacy practice

Here are the AMSA components you should care about if your primary aim is policy advocacy training:

1. Advocacy-focused action committees / campaigns
   These change over time, but commonly include areas such as:

   • Health equity / racial justice
   • Reproductive health and rights
   • Climate & health
   • Medical education reform
   • Universal health coverage / single-payer

   These committees are where most of the “hard skills” in advocacy are practiced: writing, strategy, coalition building.

2. Policy & Advocacy Leadership roles
   Depending on the year, roles may include:

   • Premed representatives to national committees
   • Advocacy coordinators at chapter, regional, or national levels
   • Campaign working group members

   These roles often include structured training on policy basics, meeting with legislators, and building advocacy plans.

3. Policy Resolutions & House of Delegates (HoD)
   AMSA’s official positions on issues are set via resolutions debated and passed at their House of Delegates, usually at the national convention.
   For practice, this is gold. Writing or co-sponsoring a resolution forces you to:

   • Read primary policy literature
   • Write clear, citation-backed “whereas” clauses
   • Propose concrete “resolved” actions

4. National & regional conferences
   Many AMSA conferences include:

   • Advocacy workshops (e.g., “How to meet your legislator,” “How a bill becomes law in your state”)
   • Issue briefings (e.g., prior authorization reform, Medicaid expansion)
   • Actual advocacy days (e.g., going to a state capitol or the Hill)

As a premed, you can access all of these. The key is to not wait until M1. You can join as a premed and start engaging now.

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2. Set a Very Specific Advocacy Goal for the Pre-Med → M1 Gap

You have a finite window before medical school begins. Treat it as a mini-fellowship in advocacy.

Pick one primary goal for this pre-matriculation phase.

Examples:

• “Before M1, I want to be able to confidently lead a 20-minute meeting with a state legislator on a health equity bill.”
• “Before M1, I want to have drafted at least one AMSA policy resolution and one op-ed on a health policy topic.”
• “Before M1, I want to understand the full cycle: identify an issue, define a policy ask, build a one-pager, and coordinate at least one small advocacy event.”

This matters because AMSA is broad and can be diffuse. Without a goal, you end up attending webinars and feeling “involved” but not actually building durable skills.

Once you have your goal, you backward-plan.

Example backward plan (3–4 months before M1):

• Month 1: Join AMSA, pick an issue area, complete 2–3 foundational trainings.
• Month 2: Join a specific campaign/committee; draft a one-page policy brief; attend at least one virtual meeting.
• Month 3: Participate in or organize one action (email campaign, legislator meeting, teach-in, virtual advocacy day).
• By matriculation: Have 1–2 concrete products (policy brief, resolution, or op-ed) and at least one documented advocacy action.

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3. Join AMSA Strategically Before Med School Starts

Step 1: Get your membership and log-in set up now

Do not wait until you have your .edu email. Join AMSA as a premed using your current email and then update later.

Once you join:

• Complete your member profile with:
  • Interest areas (health policy, global health, etc.)
  • Undergraduate institution
  • Incoming medical school (if known)
• Subscribe to:
  • National newsletters
  • Policy/advocacy listservs (these may have names like “Advocacy Network” or “Policy Action List”)

Step 2: Find your entry point into advocacy

Look for one of these on the AMSA website or via email:

• “Advocacy” or “Health Policy” as a primary menu item
• “Campaigns” or “Action Committees”
• “Policy & Health Justice” or similarly named sections

Then:

1. Identify one or two campaigns whose content you can imagine actually talking about with a legislator. Do not pick five.
2. Join the email list or Slack/Discord space for that campaign.
3. Introduce yourself briefly:
   • Premed status
   • Incoming med school (if known)
   • One sentence on what you want to practice (“I want to get better at writing one-pagers and talking to legislators.”)

You are signaling from day one: you are here to practice concrete advocacy skills, not just passively observe.

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4. Build Core Advocacy Skills Using AMSA Structures

Now to the meat: what exact skills you can practice, and how AMSA provides scaffolding.

There are roughly six advocacy skill buckets you should target before M1:

1. Issue analysis & framing
2. Writing policy briefs and one-pagers
3. Verbal advocacy (meetings, briefings)
4. Coalition & campaign participation
5. Policy resolution drafting
6. Public communication (op-eds, social media, testimony)

4.1 Issue analysis: turn “I care about X” into “Here is the policy lever”

AMSA campaigns usually come with:

• Backgrounders or issue briefs
• Suggested policy asks at federal and/or state level
• Reading lists or links to partner organizations

Use one campaign as a practice case study.

Example: AMSA campaign on reproductive health access.

Your task:

1. Download or collect every background document they have.
2. Map out:
   • The problem (e.g., limited access to medication abortion in your state)
   • The policy context (state law, federal regulation, payer issues)
   • The preferred solution (e.g., protect access via state-level shield laws, oppose restrictive bills)
3. Convert that into a one-page “framework” in your own words:
   • 2–3 bullet points summarizing the core problem
   • 2–3 bullet points on human impact
   • 1–2 specific “policy asks” (what you want an elected official to do)

This simple exercise, done thoroughly for one issue, is foundational. Repeat the same structure for a second issue if time allows, but do it deeply at least once.

4.2 Practice writing policy one-pagers using AMSA templates

Many AMSA advocacy efforts will already have one-pagers. Use them as models, but write your own.

Structure your one-pager as:

• Header: Title + 1-sentence summary (“Protect reproductive health access by opposing Bill XYZ”)
• Problem statement (2–3 short bullets): State the issue in plain language, with 1–2 data points
• Impact (2–3 bullets): Who is harmed, how it affects patients and communities
• Policy ask (1–2 bullets): Very specific action (e.g., “Oppose HB 1234,” “Co-sponsor S.5678”)
• Why you (future physician) care: 2–3 sentences max

Where AMSA helps:

• Look for shared Google Docs or resources labeled “toolkit,” “advocacy packet,” or “issue brief.”
• Ask within the campaign Slack/email group: “Does anyone have a sample one-pager for [issue] that I can learn from?”

Your goal before M1: have at least one polished one-pager that you could actually hand to a legislative staffer.

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4.3 Verbal advocacy: train for 10–15 minute legislative meetings

AMSA often organizes “Advocacy Days” or “Lobby Days” where:

• You receive a short training
• Are assigned to small groups
• Meet with legislative offices (in person or virtually)

As a premed, you can:

• Register for these events even if you have not started M1
• Ask to be in a group where someone experienced can model the interaction
• Volunteer to take one segment of the meeting

Typical 15-minute meeting structure:

1. Introduction (1–2 minutes): Who you are, where you are from, your connection to medicine
2. Issue framing (3–5 minutes): The problem and human impact
3. Policy ask (3–5 minutes): What you want them to do and why
4. Dialogue/Q&A (3–5 minutes)

Your pre-matriculation practice goal:

• Participate in at least one such advocacy meeting.
• After the meeting, immediately write down:
  • What felt comfortable
  • Where you stumbled (e.g., explaining data, responding to pushback)
  • One line you wish you had said better

Then schedule a mock meeting with a friend, family member, or another AMSA member where you practice your section again using your notes.

By the time M1 begins, you want to have:

• A practiced 60–90 second personal “why I care about this issue as a future physician” story
• Comfort reading from or referencing your one-pager without sounding scripted

4.4 Coalition & campaign work: learning to move as a team

Most students underestimate how non-individual advocacy is. AMSA will expose you to:

• Shared campaigns with partner organizations (Physicians for a National Health Program, Physicians for Reproductive Health, etc.)
• Internal coordination (Slack channels, working groups, task assignments)

As a premed, your practice here should be about learning how to be a good campaign contributor:

Specific actions to take:

• Attend 2–3 campaign calls in a row, not just one.
• Volunteer for a discrete task:
  • Drafting a paragraph of an email blast
  • Helping edit a social media toolkit
  • Taking minutes during a campaign planning call
• Observe how campaign leads:
  • Define targets (“We are focusing on Senators A, B, C”)
  • Set timelines (“We need 20 calls logged before the committee vote”)
  • Coordinate messaging (“Everyone use this 1–2 sentence framing”)

You are learning advocacy project management in a low-risk environment. Later, as a med student advocacy chair, that experience translates directly into running your own campaigns at the school level.

4.5 Draft or support an AMSA policy resolution

This is where policy and professional identity building intersect.

An AMSA resolution typically has:

• “Whereas” clauses (facts, context, citations)
• “Resolved” clauses (what AMSA will officially support, oppose, or do)

As a premed, you can:

• Co-author a resolution with a medical student
• Help research citations and refine “whereas” language
• Propose updates to older policies that have become outdated

Practical approach:

1. Ask within your issue campaign:
   “Are there any existing AMSA policies on [issue] that might need updating? Or any gaps where we lack a policy stance?”
2. Get a copy of an older resolution to use as a model.
3. Volunteer for the research and drafting component:
   • Pulling primary sources (CDC data, peer-reviewed articles, legal summaries)
   • Writing clear, concise “whereas” statements with citations
4. Join at least one prep call for HoD or policy committee review if possible.

Your learning outcomes:

• How to translate academic literature into formal organizational positions
• How to write in a precise, non-rhetorical manner (policy language is different from op-ed language)
• How physician organizations decide what they “stand for”

This is extremely useful experience if you later engage with state medical societies or specialty colleges.

4.6 Public communication: op-eds, LTEs, testimony

AMSA frequently:

• Encourages members to write op-eds or letters to the editor
• Provides templates or talking points around key moments (Supreme Court decisions, major federal bills, state-level crises)

Before med school, practice at least one of the following:

1. Op-ed (600–800 words)

   • Use AMSA briefings for background and language
   • Focus on your local angle (your state, your community hospital, your campus)
   • Submit to your local or campus paper; if not published, you still have a writing sample

2. Letter to the editor (150–200 words)

   • Respond to a recent article on a relevant issue
   • Incorporate AMSA’s policy stance and some data
   • Emphasize your perspective as a future physician

3. Mock or real legislative testimony (2–3 minutes)

   • Write a testimony script on an active or hypothetical bill
   • Use your one-pager as the base
   • Record yourself delivering it; refine based on playback

These pieces double as:

• Advocacy experience now
• Portfolio content later (you can show them to mentors, include them in applications, or adapt for future advocacy asks)

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5. Use AMSA to Connect Policy Work to Your Incoming Med School

You are not doing this in isolation. You are about to join a new institution.

Step 1: Map your incoming school’s AMSA presence

Before M1:

• Search “[Your med school] AMSA chapter”
• Look up:
  • Do they have an active chapter?
  • Who are the officers (especially advocacy, community outreach, or policy chairs)?
• Email them:
  • Brief intro
  • One or two sentences about what you have been doing with AMSA as a premed
  • Ask: “How can I plug into advocacy work when I arrive, and is there anything I can help prepare over the summer?”

You are now positioning yourself as someone who has already started the learning curve.

Step 2: Bring concrete ideas, not just enthusiasm

When you talk to incoming AMSA leaders, be specific. For example:

• “I have been working with the national AMSA climate & health campaign. We could host a short M1 lunch talk during October on how climate is affecting our patient population here, and I can adapt the slides from the national toolkit.”
• “I helped draft a one-pager on prior authorization reform. We could use that as a starting point for an email campaign to our state reps later in the fall.”

Chairs love people who bring ready-made, realistic projects.

Step 3: Make the experience legible on your CV and for future opportunities

As you wrap up the pre-matriculation phase:

Document very explicitly:

• Role titles with AMSA (even if informal, like “Campaign volunteer – Reproductive Health”)
• Specific outputs:
  • 1 policy one-pager on [issue]
  • 1 co-authored policy resolution on [topic]
  • 1 advocacy meeting with [office]
  • 1 op-ed/LTE/testimony draft

This helps later when:

• Applying for med school advocacy fellowships (e.g., health policy tracks, advocacy electives)
• Running for AMSA national offices as a med student
• Applying for residencies and need to show sustained interest beyond vague “passion for advocacy”

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6. A Concrete 8–10 Week AMSA Advocacy Practice Plan Before M1

Let us translate everything into a practical timeline.

Weeks 1–2: Onboarding and issue selection

• Join AMSA as a premed.
• Subscribe to policy/advocacy communication channels.
• Attend at least one general advocacy webinar/intro session.
• Choose one issue area to focus on (e.g., health coverage, reproductive health, climate & health).

Deliverable: 1-page outline of your chosen issue (problem, impact, initial policy levers).

Weeks 3–4: Deep dive into one campaign

• Join an AMSA campaign or action committee related to your chosen issue.
• Attend at least two campaign calls.
• Request any existing toolkits or one-pagers.
• Draft your own one-pager using the AMSA materials as references.

Deliverable: Polished one-pager on your issue, reviewed by at least one campaign leader or peer.

Weeks 5–6: Verbal advocacy + coalition work

• Register for any available Advocacy/Lobby Day (or, if not available, organize a mock meeting with peers).
• Practice a 60–90 second personal story plus a 2–3 minute issue summary based on your one-pager.
• Attend campaign calls and volunteer for a small but real task:
  • Editing a toolkit section
  • Drafting a short email mobilization
  • Taking minutes

Deliverable:

• At least one advocacy meeting (real or well-structured mock) completed
• One specific campaign task completed and documented

Weeks 7–8: Policy resolution + public communication

• Identify an AMSA policy resolution related to your issue that needs updating, or draft a new one with a partner.
• Participate in at least one drafting or review session.
• Write either:
  • One op-ed (600–800 words), or
  • One legislative testimony (2–3 minutes), or
  • One letter to the editor (150–200 words)

Deliverables:

• Co-authored or significantly contributed policy resolution draft
• One public communication piece ready for submission or practice

Weeks 9–10: Transition to med school context

• Contact AMSA leaders at your incoming med school.
• Share:
  • Your one-pager
  • Your advocacy experience summary (1–2 paragraphs)
  • A concrete idea for an easy-to-implement advocacy activity for M1s
• Block time on your early M1 calendar for:
  • One AMSA meeting per month
  • One advocacy action per quarter (even if small)

Deliverable: Clear plan for continuing advocacy using AMSA at your med school.

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7. Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

A few patterns I see repeatedly:

1. Overcommitting to too many issues
   You join 4 campaigns, dabble in all, master none.
   Fix: One primary issue. At most one secondary.

2. Consumption without production
   You attend webinars and calls but never create anything.
   Fix: For every 2–3 meetings you attend, have at least one concrete output (paragraph, one-pager section, draft email, etc.).

3. Hiding behind “I’m just a premed”
   You assume leadership roles, or serious tasks, are “for real med students.”
   Fix: Explicitly tell national leaders: “I am a premed, and I want to practice policy skills. What can I own that is appropriate for my level?” You will often be surprised by how much you are trusted with.

4. No documentation of what you did
   Three years later, you remember being “involved” but cannot describe it concretely to a program director.
   Fix: Keep a simple log: date, action, your role, outcome, and any products created.

5. Advocacy that is completely disconnected from your local reality
   It all feels abstract if you never tie it back to your state, school, or community.
   Fix: Wherever possible, localize your issue—look up your state data, your local hospital’s situation, your county’s demographics.

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FAQ (exactly 5 questions)

1. I am a premed at a school without an AMSA chapter. Can I still practice advocacy this way?
Yes. You can join AMSA as an at-large premed member and plug directly into national campaigns, virtual advocacy days, and policy work. Your main shift is that you will not have local chapter infrastructure, so you should lean more heavily on national committees and online communities. You can still draft one-pagers, join campaign calls, contribute to resolutions, and participate in virtual meetings with legislators.

2. How much time per week should I realistically budget before M1 for AMSA advocacy work?
For an intentional “practice phase,” 2–4 hours per week is usually sufficient. One hour for meetings or trainings, and 1–3 hours for actual production (writing, research, planning). During busier weeks, even 60–90 minutes focused on your one-pager or testimony script can meaningfully move you forward. The key is consistency over 8–10 weeks rather than one massive burst.

3. Will residency programs actually care that I did AMSA advocacy as a premed?
They will care about patterns and depth. A single semester of activity years ago matters less than a clear trajectory: you started in AMSA as a premed, then continued advocacy through medical school in increasingly responsible roles. When framed correctly on your CV and in interviews (“I began structured advocacy training even before M1 through AMSA’s national campaigns, which led to…”), this can underscore that your interest in policy is sustained and intentional, not a last-minute talking point.

4. I feel underqualified to talk to legislators since I am not yet a medical student. Should I wait?
No. Legislators routinely meet with high school students, community advocates, and patients with no formal training. What matters is preparation, clarity of your ask, and honesty about your role (“I am a premedical student planning to attend [School], and I care about this because…”). Using AMSA’s trainings and one-pagers, you can be extremely effective even before M1, especially if you practice your talking points and stay within your lane of expertise.

5. How do I avoid getting burned out or overwhelmed by heavy topics like reproductive justice or health inequities?
First, be intentional about your issue load—one main focus is usually enough. Second, set boundaries on time and emotional exposure; it is acceptable to take weeks where you just maintain your existing commitments without adding more. Third, use AMSA’s community aspect: debrief with peers, attend reflection spaces if offered, and remember that you are building skills for a long career, not solving everything before M1. Recognizing your role as a learner and contributor, rather than sole savior, helps maintain sustainability.

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Key takeaways:

1. Use AMSA before M1 as a structured training ground: pick one issue, join a campaign, and aim for real outputs like one-pagers, resolutions, and advocacy meetings.
2. Treat your pre-matriculation months as an “advocacy practicum,” with a simple 8–10 week plan rather than scattered, one-off events.
3. Document everything and connect it explicitly to your incoming med school’s AMSA chapter so your early policy work becomes the foundation for serious, longitudinal advocacy throughout your medical training.