About Us

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.