Hello AMSA Family,
As we find ourselves on the morning of AMSA’s annual Health Equity Week of Action, I am honored to share an important announcement about the future of advocacy within AMSA.
AMSA has long been shaped by student leadership and a conviction to demand justice when our field and our world fall short of it. In a system that routinely discounts student voices, we feel a deep responsibility to safeguard and uplift exactly that.
Today, this responsibility feels especially urgent. From austerity policies that have introduced historic federal healthcare cuts to political intrusion into our exam rooms and curriculum, we are witnessing the organized abandonment of the communities that we entered medicine to serve.
As AMSA’s student leadership and staff have grappled with this moment, one truth has become abundantly clear: if AMSA is to remain a home for student-driven justice, we must be structurally equipped to turn conviction into action.
For this reason, AMSA is proud to announce the reintroduction of our historic Legislative Affairs Director student leadership position and the launch of our new Advocacy & Action arm. This revitalization reflects our renewed commitment to ensuring that our advocacy is principled, courageous, and grounded in community.
It is my great pleasure to formally introduce Donya Ahmadian as AMSA’s newest Legislative Affairs Director, whose leadership embodies this spirit. Over the past few months, you have heard from the two of us as we have entered into this period of renewed action. Today, I am delighted to present you with Donya’s reflections on this moment and her evolving vision guiding AMSA’s renewed Advocacy & Action Arm.
In solidarity,
Nikitha Balaji (they/them)
American Medical Student Association National President
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A Message from Donya Ahmadian
American Medical Student Association Legislative Affairs Director
Dear Friends,
Advocacy has always been the central wellspring of AMSA’s mission. In the 1950’s, AMSA, then known as the Student American Medical Association (SAMA), made the courageous decision to break away from the American Medical Association (AMA). At the time, the AMA’s philosophical orientation was in clear misalignment with student voices, who were centering their visions on advancing civil and human rights. Much like today, this boldness and commitment to the core of our integrity can feel incredibly frightening. Students walked the difficult threadlines of facing professional backlash, navigating institutional power dynamics, and finding their voices amongst the many others encouraging conformation to a version of medicine they were unwilling to participate in.
Understandably, when faced with such a decision point- capitulation can feel like the path of least resistance- oftentimes, because it is. A defining feature of various systems of oppression share this quality- encouraging contortion of one’s own value systems to fit what is palatable to the most powerful. The tension that exists in this space can be sacred to identify & as late psychiatrist Viktor Frankl once wrote…”
“Between stimulus and response there is a space…
in that space is our power to choose our response.”
Frankl goes on to share that in this response, whatever it may be, we will find both our “growth” and our “freedom.” This begs the question- how do we reach this sense of freedom when knowing how to respond can feel so disillusioning? So frightening? So unknown? When we are faced with risking the same backlash as our predecessors who paved the way for us?
That is the very element of medicine that we at AMSA believe needs to be addressed. The field was not made to uplift individualistic ideologies that drown out the voices of its people. When we make that very oath to do no harm- when we feel our white coats first graze our backs- we believed in something greater. We refuse to believe that this calling is being mirrored in the medical and sociopolitical landscape we are living in. Equally, we are energized by that truth we first sought. For, that which binds us here at AMSA may feel like the very values that separate us in other spaces- and if we can allow that discomfort to coexist with the vision we have clung to- then we will continue to pave our way.
That is not a check engine light telling us we are on the wrong path- but instead, that we are the long path of the very freedom Frankl was referencing. When the freedom of choice feels threatened at every corner- we are here to remind one another that our humanity is not something for sale. Autonomy of choice is not a privilege to be earned- or kept accessible to the groups of our choosing. As a physician, this is one of our primary groundings- to care deeply for others in their wholeness- acknowledging their totality and the many elements that contribute to wellness and illness. It is not, however, an opportunity to cast judgement and dictate worthiness or access to life-saving and life-enhancing care. Quite simply, you cannot truly take care of people when you deny who they fundamentally are and what they fundamentally need.
For us here at AMSA, these are the reflections we have been sitting with. The critical examination of the world we are living in- the moral reckoning with the harm around us- and asking where we fit within the larger ecosystem of it all. Further, we recognize that we only ask ourselves these questions when something incredibly precious feels on the line.
We are here to assure you that the walls you painted with the dreams that brought you into medicine remain real and tangible. The care we find in one another reminds us that hope, too, is this at its very core. When we look closely, we can find a million reasons to still see this hope everywhere- and we see this mirrored when we think of you.
Your voices matter in every space that you feel called to enter. You are truth-tellers, rooted in the fight for equity in all its forms. We believe that health is a human right- much like access to the very things that make health possible and give it its best chance to grow. Embedded in this belief is the understanding that health is multidimensional-a living tapestry woven from a shared sense of belonging and safety. Where legality is not a term used to define a living person. Where compassion is not a privilege but an extension of human dignity- owed to all. In short, human rights is a nonpartisan issue.
For us at AMSA, these guiding emotions and reflections have been redefining what advocacy means to us- not just in spirit- but in its very core. We are so proud of the work that each of you, our incredible members, have poured into each season of this journey. Now, as we meet this moment, we are intentionally returning to the very legacy that first brought us together.
Beginning with our Code Blue movement last year, we have been listening closely to you- working to build a safe harbor for you to land. There is a place for you in the hills and valleys of this world and we hope that one of them can always be here with us. Whether in still or raging waters, there is something so foundationally captivating about a lighthouse. The path towards land may be treacherous and daunting- but there it remains- lying still, firm, and rooted. Lighthouses are an invitation to believe that no matter where we are in our journeys, there is something out there waiting for us- just in case we want or need it. It both lights our path and in the darkness, reminds us that even when the shore feels out of reach, it has never left us. To believe in the unseen or that which we cannot yet feel is a discipline, much like hope, as abolitionist Mariame Kaba taught us.
That is our vow to you and as we build our vision for the coming years, we hope you will dream alongside us. To reflect this, we have intentionally restructured the Advocacy arm of our organization as a renewed path- Advocacy & Action. This division of our organization will serve, with revitalized energy and purpose, and be clearly focused upon uplifting the democracy we believe in- one that is centered in social justice, human rights, and equity for every being- full stop. We will be guided by transparent values which will reflect AMSA’s organizational priorities through a focused lens, anchoring three foundational pillars to guide us in this reorientation-advocacy, education, and community. These pillars serve as the architecture of our lighthouse- the beams that will hold the infrastructure of our vision and thread them together, right alongside you.
It is our hope that you will see yourself within each of these pillars. In education, we see the expansion of our moral imaginations and the development and maintenance of curriculum rooted in liberatory medicine- things we will not often find within the walls of our institutions. In advocacy, we will find the building of our tangible skillsets- such as call-in’s to Congress, sign-on letters, and rapid response elements- engaging in concentrated action to drive change.
From this north star, we harness the power of learning to strategically and emphatically utilize our voices for what we not only believe- but know is right. We will witness how our power compounds when we are fundamentally equipped to respond to the issues around us- when we normalize the duality of fear- for with it and through it, we can build courage. Finally, through a focus upon community, we reflect the integrated understanding that to feel empowered to build our advocacy, we must feel safe enough to make sense of the many emotions we are experiencing. In a system that induces paralysis and nervous system dysregulation- here, we can normalize anger, confusion, and fear- and channel it into the building blocks for our sacred belonging. To feel deeply is not a liability- but an indicator that you are on the right side of history. Together, we can validate this shared lived experience, investing in nonjudgmental spaces and unifying our voices for the change we seek.
As we walk this journey together, I bring us to a final message from author Donna Roberts:
“A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.”
We hope we can be that friend. When the world feels heavy, may we be willing to sing the song in our hearts back to one another- for words etched in permanence can never truly be forgotten- much like our dream for the world we wish to practice our version of medicine & healing in.
We will deepen this conversation this week at Health Equity Week of Action (HEWA), beginning at 6:00 PM ET this evening, where we will spend the next 5 days co-dreaming together.
On our HEWA landing page, you can explore our daily themes and featured speakers/programming in detail. We have the gift of hosting so many aligned allies, including the National Health Law Program, Introspectives Spaces, Stop Stigma Sacramento, the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation, DC’s Reproductive Freedom Caucus, Ibis Reproductive Health/ the DC Abortion Fund, Health in Partnership, key activists and abolitionists from UCLA/Harbor-UCLA/USC, Doctors Against Genocide, the Committee to Protect Healthcare, and the Committee of Interns and Residents, amongst various AMSA national leaders and staff.
As a general note: indicating interest for any single event on our registration form grants you automatic access to all sessions, as the Zoom link recurs for each gathering.
It is such a privilege to be in this fight with you .
Let’s get started.
With care,
Donya Ahmadian, MS, MPH (she/her)
American Medical Student Association Legislative Affairs Director
