Constitution
Article l - Name, Purpose, and Non-Discrimination Policy of the Organization.
Section 1: Name: Media and the Modern Patient
Section 2 - Purpose:
The modern physician is required to continue providing the highest of quality medical
interventions in a health care model which has shifted towards a consumer driven system. The
knowledge and expectations of these consumers are increasingly influenced by an inescapable
and growing medical media. This organization aims to understand the means that patients obtain
information which influences their perceptions and expectations of healthcare in order to provide
quality care that bridges the dichotomy of patient autonomy and the paternalistic medical model.
The organization will explore pharmaceutical advertisements, trends in medical litigation, online
medical resources, popular media depictions of medical professionals, and opinions of patients
and physicians of multiple generations in order to gain perspective on the healthcare experience
that patients anticipate. By understanding patients’ expectations of their providers, we hope to
foster a generation of physicians which provide evidence based medicine in a manner that meets
the needs of the modern patient
Section 3 - Non-Discrimination Policy:
This organization shall not discriminate against any student(s) on the basis of gender, age, race,
ethic origin, color, religion, sexual orientation or disability.
Article II - Membership: Qualifications and categories of membership.
Membership will be granted to all students of The Ohio State University College of Medicine
who wish to join the organization.
Article III - Organization Leadership: Titles, terms of office, type of selection, and duties of the
leaders.
Organization leaders will be elected on a yearly basis during the Spring Semester. Organization
leaders may serve up to two terms in office.
Leadership office and duties include:
President: The president is responsible, with the aid of the co-president/vice president, to set
dates and times for meetings, determine meeting topics, obtain guest speakers, delegate roles to
leadership members, and work with the advisor.
Co-President/Vice President: The co-president/ vice president will be responsible to aid the
president in his/her duties, and to obtain locations for and run group meetings.
Treasurer: The treasurer is responsible for collecting any member dues, maintaining the group’s
assets, purchasing supplies needed for meetings and obtaining reimbursement for school funded
activities or supplies.
Secretary: The role of the secretary is to take meeting notes, send out notices regarding
upcoming meetings, maintain an up to date log of all members’ names and e-mails, and organize
advertising for organization events.
Article VI – Method of Selecting and/or Removing Officers and Members.
Group members who wish to run for office for the following year may submit their names to the
residing president and co-president before the end of the Fall semester. Candidates will have the
opportunity to give a speech and promote their candidacy at an assigned election meeting.
Group members will elect organization leaders by popular vote.
If an officer is believed to not be meeting the expectation of his/her position as defined by the
constitution, the other members of the leadership committee will review the allegations. If the
officers unanimously agree that the offending officer is in dereliction of his/her duties, that
officer will be placed on a two-month probationary period. During the probationary period, the
officer will be expected to conduct his/her duties in accordance with the expectation defined for
his/her position. At the end of the two-month probationary period, the leadership officers will
reconvene and review the probationary officer’s organization activities. If the officer is still
found to be in dereliction of his/her duties by unanimous vote, they will be removed from office.
An officer cannot be removed from office based on any status listed under the nondiscriminatory policy.
Any College of Medicine student can become a member of the organization. Students will be
asked to submit their name, e-mail address and graduation year on a new member form. The
student will be informed by e-mail of their membership acceptance. Any member who violates
the student organization qualification criteria, including minimal meeting attendance, will be
removed from the organization and informed of their removal by e-mail.
Article VII – Advisor(s) or Advisory Board: Qualification Criteria.
The advisor should be a faculty member of The Ohio State University College of Medicine.
They should attend at least two organization meetings a year. The advisor will help determine
meeting topics and activities. The advisor will have no financial responsibility for the
organization. Advisors will serve for a 2 year time period and will be retained at their
willingness to continue and with the approval of the leadership committee of the board.
Article VIII – Meetings of the Organization: Required meetings and their frequency.
Meetings will be held on a monthly basis for at least one hour. In order to be considered an
official member of the organizations, students must attend at least 4 meetings in a given year.
Officers are permitted to miss up to two meetings a year.
Article IX – Method of Amending Constitution: Proposals, notice, and voting requirements.
Proposed amendments to the organization’s constitution should be presented in writing to the
president. The proposed amendment will be read during the general meeting at which it was
proposed and read again at 2 subsequent general meetings. A vote will then be held at the third
general meeting to approve or deny the amendment. Two-thirds of the vote is necessary for the
amendment to be passed.
Article X – Method of Dissolution of Organization
The organization shall be dissolved if the President, Co-president/Vice President and Treasurer
positions cannot be filled. The organization shall also be dissolved if a total of 6 members
cannot be obtained in a given year. Any assets remaining upon the organization’s dissolution
will be donated to American Red Cross. The organization’s leaders will pay any debts upon
dissolution of the organization. Debt responsibility will be divided equally among all leadership
members.