In October of 2005, at the American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine's (AAAOM) annual conference in Chicago, Trudy McAlister received the Patient of the Year award from the AAAOM for her philanthropic donation. This led to the establishment of the first national scholarship fund for students of acupuncture and Oriental medicine.
The AOM Scholarship Fund
Trudy was a grateful patient of acupuncture who suffered from severe nerve and leg pain that remained untreatable with allopathic medicine. However, her response and dramatic relief with acupuncture gave her a new lease on life. She was so grateful that she asked her acupuncturist, Dr. Gene Bruno, if there was a way she could give back to the profession. When he suggested a scholarship fund for students of acupuncture, she jumped at the chance.
Trudy and Dr. Bruno worked together to design the structure for the scholarships, and with Trudy's initial donation the first national not-for-profit scholarship foundation for students of acupuncture was born, the Trudy McAlister Foundation. Trudy continued to make yearly donations to the Foundation up until the year she passed in 2015, just short of her 103rd birthday.
The AOM Scholarship Fund, which is the primary function of the Trudy McAlister Foundation, was established to support students who show promise of making significant contributions either to clinical practice, leadership potential and the understanding of the role of AOM in a modern context. In addition to academic success, the AOM Scholarship Fund places an emphasis on involvement in community affairs, and participation in professional associations that promote public awareness and expansion of acupuncture and Oriental medicine. The AOM Scholarship Fund is seeking to support the future leaders of our profession, and we recognize this involves much more than just scholastic achievement. The AOM Scholarship Fund is committed to supporting U.S. citizens who are studying for their first professional degree at an ACAOM accredited school of AOM, or "candidate" school in the U.S. The Foundation also supports research and related activities that promote AOM advancement.
A Charitable Foundation
In May of 2007 the Trudy McAlister Foundation completed the legal and procedural processes that enabled the Foundation to become a charitable, not-for-profit entity - allowing donors to make tax-deductible gifts to the Foundation.
At the AAAOM Conference in October of 2007, the Foundation awarded its first two scholarships. The initial announcement was made at the AAAOM Student Organization caucus. The recipients were Jason Moskovitz from Yo San University in Los Angeles, and Andrew Fritsch from the Minnesota College of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. Each recipient received a $1,000 scholarship.
One of the primary goals of the Foundation is to increase the number of scholarships, and the amounts of the awards. In order to accomplish this we need the help of the AOM community. Currently our most generous donor is John Scott of Golden Flower Herbs. For nearly 8 years he has gifted the Foundation $2,000 a year. This has allowed us to give an increased scholarship award to eight additional deserving students.
The Foundation's Goals
Two years ago the AOM Scholarship Fund launched a School Sponsorship program. The top applicant from a Sponsor School wins a special scholarship. The amount of this award is based on the amount of money donated by Sponsor Schools. Ideally, this will become the largest single scholarship that we provide to a student every year. If most AOM Schools donate a minimum of $200/year, we will be able to provide one student with a $10,000+ scholarship. This is in addition to our other scholarships, which will continue to be available to students attending any accredited AOM school in the U.S.
In the end, the future of the only national scholarship fund for students of AOM depends solely on the generosity of schools, vendors, individuals and organizations. The students in our AOM schools are the future leaders of our profession – of our medicine. The Trudy McAlister Foundation will do as much as possible to help support them financially. We deeply appreciate any help you can offer in support of this mission.
The 2019 Winners Are ...
Since 2007, the Foundation has given out 49 scholarships to deserving students. The following is a list of the students and the schools they attended.
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
The members of the Foundations Board of Directors are: Gene Bruno, Pamela Lee, Laura Ocker, Rhonda Wilbur and Marilyn Allen. Applications for scholarships are available at: AOMScholarship.org. Each school may submit up to three applicants.
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