Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society () is an honor society in the field of medicine. Alpha Omega Alpha currently has active Chapters in 132 LCME- accredited medical schools in the United States and Lebanon. It annually elects over 4,000 new members. The majority of new members are elected in their final year of medical school, but distinguished teachers, faculty members, residents, and alumni can also be inducted into the society. All elections are held at local Chapters. No elections are held nationally. History ΑΩΑ was founded in 1902 by William Webster Root and five other medical students at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, which later became the University of Illinois College of Medicine. The impetus for its formation was the generally poor quality of American medical schools and students at the time; Root and his colleagues wished to promote excellence in these groups. They decided that membership in ΑΩΑ was to be based on both scholarly achievement and professional conduct. Root pitched his idea to nearby schools, and soon the University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Medicine and Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine had set up chapters. By 1912, there were seventeen chapters. As more medical schools became interested, the national organization was able to become more selective in the standards a school had to meet to be eligible. Root stated in the original constitution of ΑΩΑ: "The mission of ΑΩΑ is to encourage high ideals of thought and action in schools of medicine and to promote that which is the highest in professional practice." The ΑΩΑ motto is, "Be Worthy to Serve the Suffering." Root defined the duties of ΑΩΑ members, as "to foster the scientific and philosophical features of the medical profession, to look beyond self to the welfare of the profession and of the public, to cultivate social mindedness, as well as an individualistic attitude toward responsibilities, to show respect for colleagues, especially for elders and teachers, to foster research and in all ways to ennoble the profession of medicine and advance it in public opinion. It is equally a duty to avoid that which is unworthy, including the commercial spirit and all practices injurious to the welfare of patients, the public, or the profession." Collections of the society's papers were donated to the National Library of Medicine in 1973 by John Z. Bowers, and in 2000 by Gladys Brill Brampton. Purpose The current