The Social Medicine Portal

Colleges Organizing for Medical Access of Connecticut (COMA-CT) invites medical students and others to join

COMA-CT is a student group dedicated to the expansion of health care access and the establishment of universal health care for all people in Connecticut and across the nation, invites you to join the discussion group of Colleges Organizing for Medical Access of Connecticut (COMA-CT).  COMA-CT is a student organization that encompasses all campuses across Connecticut, especially the medical and professional schools.  COMA-CT is based at the UCONN School of Medicine in Farmington, CT, but seeks to expand and coordinate with any and all organizations in and beyond Connecticut.

Currently, we have an open email discussion Google group called COMA-CT for anyone in Connecticut or beyond to join.  In addition, we have a Facebook group under the same name, open to everyone, which will act as an announcement list.  We are looking for people to join our email list, in order to create an intellectual and informational platform on which all members can share their collective knowledge.  This forum intends to create a network of dedicated persons, so that they may be aware of each others efforts and perhaps emulate, cooperate, or compete on how best to advance health care access for all.  The email list intends to facilitate the following:

• Be a premier portal for information on current events and political thought on health care.
• Formulate intellectual responses to the health care challenges in the US.
• Create a directory of experienced people who can create institutionalized knowledge for engaging in health care activism.
• Facilitate the dissemination of notices of new publications, books, conferences, etc.
• Assemble information useful for health care activism, such as a searchable database of moving health care stories or articles on health care policy.

In addition, COMA-CT intends to engage or facilitate the following initiatives:

• Create a “Starter’s Kit” for students to start organizations dedicated to increasing health care access.
• Create a media response taskforce to assist members in engaging the media to highlight the health care crisis and more importantly the solutions to achieve universal health care.
• Create a political action taskforce to assist members in engaging the local or national legislature and government
• Facilitate social events for students, such as movie events with “Sicko” or PBS documentaries.
• Enable social action, such as protest of insurance company profits, etc.
• Enable student organizations to find financial resources for their activism.
• Facilitate training of individuals in talking about universal health care, i.e. “training the trainers”.

We currently collaborate with local and national chapters of AMSA (American Medical Student Association) in their initiatives for universal health care.  In Connecticut, we are fortunate enough to have the Universal Health Care Foundation of CT (UHCF of CT), which is a great material resource for ideas and initiatives.  In addition, we have established connections with Rekindling Reform (RR), a health care reform organization, which is a non-profit joint project of 72 organizations in New York.   The National Affairs Committee of RR is especially focus on strengthening and possibly expanding Medicare into a Medicare-for-all universal health care system.  We are also lucky to collaborate with the Yale University community of scholars on health care policy.  Please see the following links for more information:

Links:

http://groups.google.com/group/coma-ct

http://www.universalhealthct.org

http://www.rekindlingreform.org

http://www.law.yale.edu/faculty/TMarmor.htm

http://www.hks.harvard.edu/about/faculty-staff-directory/theodore-marmor

We would like to introduce the organization to those beyond the UCONN School of Medicine in Farmington, CT, especially to join forces at other medical schools and universities beyond Connecticut.  We can help assist other student groups to start COMA chapters or restart pre-existing student groups with the same or similar mission.  Please feel free to contact us for assistance in any way:

Omar Scott Antar

COMA-CT Google Groups

http://groups.google.com/group/coma-ct

COMA-CT Facebook group:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=23941911448

We hope to hear from you and have you subscribe to the email list!

Thank you very much!

Sincerely,

Omar Scott Antar