Faculty Advisor Guide for Medical Schools

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The students you'll advise build what doesn't exist — clinics, screening programs, community partnerships that weren't there before they arrived.

What is Aequitas Health?

A national medical honor society recognizing medical students who complete community health projects. 12 chapters, 12 states, 250+ fellows — entirely volunteer-run, no cost to students.

The call came on a Tuesday in March 2020. His grandmother's voice cracked through the phone: "They're closing the clinic. People don't know what to do."

He had a shelf exam in nine days. By Thursday, he was driving six hours home, a stack of board review books on the passenger seat he wouldn't open for weeks.

He taught families what isolation meant — then called and texted them every evening when the loneliness set in. Family members lost loved ones they couldn't visit. He stayed on the phone with them for hours, talking through grief that had no goodbye. And when they were terrified of a healthcare system they didn't understand — forms they couldn't read, instructions in a language that wasn't theirs — he translated. Not just the words. The fear.

His inbox filled with missed deadlines. His shelf scores dipped. The AOA packet sat untouched. He knew what it was costing him. He also knew no one else was coming.

In the gymnasium where vaccines arrived that winter, an elderly woman gripped his hand and whispered, "You came home when we needed you."

His faculty advisor didn't teach him how to do any of this. She helped him figure out how to keep doing it without losing his career.

This is the student you'll advise.

What a faculty advisor does

Serve as institutional liaison (sign charter, attend ~1 meeting per semester)
Mentor student leaders on project design and community partnerships
Review fellow nominations with student selection committee
Connect fellows with clinical and community resources

Typical time commitment: 2–4 hours per semester, with occasional periods requiring more. No course development. No curriculum design. No grant writing. You are a mentor and sponsor, not a program director.

What you don't have to do

Raise money, supervise projects day-to-day, write reports, attend the national conference, navigate politics.

How this counts toward promotion

Faculty advising counts as institutional service, mentoring, and community engagement — three categories most promotion committees evaluate separately.

Sample promotion narrative:

"Faculty Advisor, Aequitas Health Chapter, [School]. National medical honor society recognizing medical students for community health projects. Mentored [X] fellows on project design, community partnerships, and scholarly dissemination. Fellow work published in the Aequitas Health Journal and presented at the National Aequitas Health Conference."

Why this matters beyond your CV

Recommendation letters with substance: "This student built a vision screening program that served 200 children" — not "this student is compassionate"
Mentorship with the most motivated students in your school
Connection to a national faculty network

You're mentoring students who build what doesn't exist — and that makes for a different kind of recommendation letter.

Organizational credibility

McNulty Catalyst Award (2023, John P. McNulty Prize), editorially reviewed journal (5 volumes), 3 national conferences, 501(c)(3) nonprofit, zero cost to students.

Next steps

Because action, not just achievement, is the highest honor in medicine.

Advising an AequitasHealth Chapter