Samantha Lynch, OMS-III, Establishes the First National DO Day of Service

With a passion for serving the community, Samantha Lynch, a third-year medical student at California Health Sciences University College of Osteopathic Medicine (CHSU-COM), initiated the first annual National DO Day of Service on Saturday, April 22, 2023.

While serving as the National Programs Representative of the Council of Osteopathic Student Government Presidents (COSGP) at the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM), Lynch established this new tradition to be recognized nationwide on the last Saturday of National Osteopathic Medicine (NOM) Week in April.

The National DO Day of Service invites osteopathic medical students, student clubs, faculty, and physicians from 46 colleges of osteopathic medicine across the nation to simultaneously volunteer collectively in their respective communities and fundraise for charity.

Over eight months, Lynch wrote and presented the proposal for the National DO Day of Service. During that period, AACOM approved her proposal and she led and trained a team of Regional Chairs to implement the protocol, designed the event t-shirt, and wrote content for meetings and promotional materials, including agendas for each region, educational materials for clubs, templates for email blasts, and multiple social media campaigns.

To spread awareness of this year’s event, Lynch hosted a t-shirt fundraiser benefitting the Alzheimer’s Association, a charity organization chosen by COSGP. The fundraiser sold over 700 t-shirts and raised $3,946.60 for the Alzheimer’s Association. Throughout NOM Week, the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) is also executing Lynch’s event campaign on its social media platforms and sharing live content on the National DO Day of Service.

At CHSU-COM, Lynch has enlisted the support of her colleagues to celebrate the National DO Day of Service in the Central Valley. Vishal Gupta, second year medical student, is the current Vice President in CHSU-COM’s Student Government Association and COSGP General Council Member who serves as one of two Western Region Chairs to be the liaison between Lynch and the COM Translating Osteopathic Understanding Into Community Health (TOUCH) Coordinators in the western states. Elora Mallick, second year medical student, is the CHSU-COM TOUCH Coordinator, managing CHSU’s participation in TOUCH, which entails implementing the National DO Day of Service protocol by recruiting and directing student club involvement in the event.

“There would not be any National DO Day of Service to participate in if it weren’t for all our amazing student organizations and club leaders,” said Samantha Lynch, third-year medical student at CHSU-COM and National Programs Representative of the COSGP. “The impact we are able to bring to our community is all thanks to their willingness to organize these local service events in the name of National DO Day of Service!”

CHSU-COM Student Clubs supporting the National DO Day of Service:

• Student Osteopathic Medical Association (SOMA) – Central California SPCA Supply Drive
• Valley Reach – Live Again Fresno Clean-Up
• Student Association of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians (SAACOFP) and Christian Medical and Dental Associations (CMDA) – Medical Supply Sorting
• American Medical Association (AMA) and California Medical Association (CMA) –Fresno Interdenominational Refugee Ministries Campus Refresh (FIRM)
• Osteopathic Physicians & Surgeons of California (OPSC) – Valley Children’s Hospital Outreach Day
• Wellness and Wilderness Medicine (WWM) – Walks with Clovis Senior Center
• Sigma Sigma Phi – A Cleaner Clovis
• Student American Academy of Osteopathy (SAAO) – Poverello House

Advocating for a National DO Day of Service has been the core of Lynch’s purpose in her position at the COSGP. She initially joined COSGP as a General Council member when she first became the President of CHSU-COM’s Student Government Association during her second year of medical school.

She currently sits on the national executive board as the National Programs Representative to run the TOUCH program, which is the COSGP’s national osteopathic service and volunteering program that accounts for more than 250,000 hours of community service acts performed annually across the nation.

She also creates student-oriented programming to be disseminated and executed at every COM in the United States, and she represents all DO students when meeting with national organizations that govern medical education, including AACOM, AOA, and National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners (NBOME).

“When I ran for this position, my vision for creating a National DO Day of Service was one of the biggest components of my platform,” said Lynch. “My vision was that this could become an annual tradition that highlights the deep commitment of osteopathic medical students to serving our communities. Others believed in me enough to place me in this role, and suddenly this idea became a real responsibility that I had the tools and authority to make happen.”

CHSU is proud of all the student organizations and clubs for their participation in the first annual National DO Day Service.