OUT Together! Fundraiser
MSPA is excited to announce our 2024 OUT Together fundraiser! Proceeds support our premed and medical student members.
Do you want to support LGBTQIA+ medical students and help them succeed?
AWESOME! So, do we! We are seeking your help so we can all be OUT Together! and continue training LGBTQIA+ folks in healthcare.
Medical Student Pride Alliance (MSPA) is a national organization that aims to provide education and advocacy for LGBTQ+ issues in healthcare, and give a place for LGBTQ+ identifying medical students to unite and collaborate.
The OUT Together! fundraiser is an annual event hosted by the Medical Student Pride Alliance (MSPA). The goal of this fundraiser is to support LGBTQIA+ medical students and help them succeed in their education and careers.
To coincide with Giving Tuesday this year, our OUT Together! fundraiser will range from November 26th to December 3rd, 2024.
Giving Tuesday is a global day of giving, and we're asking you to join us in supporting the next generation of LGBTQ+ healthcare leaders. Your donation to Out Together will directly impact the lives of LGBTQ+ medical students by:
Providing Scholarships: Helping cover tuition costs and other expenses via programs such as our previous microgrant process.
Funding Our Conference: Connecting students and providers across the country during our annual conference and encouraging more research scholarship in the MSPA community.
Supporting Advocacy Initiatives: The MSPA team has the opportunity to develop new initiatives regularly to further our mission---having an increase in funding allows us to expand on the organization as it currently stands.
Creating Socials: This allows chapters to foster a welcoming and inclusive environment for LGBTQ+ medical students in respective cities where students may want to have a community space.
Pre-Med Scholarships:
to help overcome application costs
Why pre-medical students?
Medical school applications can present barriers to LGBTQIA+ students pursuing medical education with and without familial support.
LGBT identifying individuals make up 40% of homeless youth (3).
1 in 4 teens are forced out of their homes after coming out (3).
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) asks for parental income even in these situations which disproportionately impacts LGBTQIA+ students
The cost of the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) for primary applications to the recommended 16 schools for students is $700 before adding in costs for secondary applications and travel expenses (1,2). The cost of the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOMAS) is roughly $900 in costs for primary applications (6).
Medical Student Scholarships:
for LGBTQIA+ students to help with tuition and living expenses
Why medical students?
Medical schools often do not have the infrastructure and resources to support LGBTQIA+ students.
43.5% of LGBTQIA+ students report harassment and discrimination during medical school (4).
Tuition costs are on the rise. The median tuition for the 2019-2020 year was 63k (5).
MSPA Chapter Grants:
To ensure all chapters have funds to organize events and activities for their students
Why chapters?
Some of our chapters do not receive support from their institutions or communities due to anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric.
The needs of our chapters are unique and vary depending on their institutions and regions. We want to be able to support our chapters in programming, leadership development, and improving the LGBTQ+ experience as a student and in healthcare.
OUT Together! will take place from November 26th - December 3rd.
Contributions made during OUT! Together, unless specified otherwise, will fund student scholarships and grants mentioned above as well as operating costs for MSPA.
If you would like to support MSPA, please click here and remember to include your affiliated chapter because we will be highlighting the chapter who has the highest contributions!