Hurricane Ike Medical Student Relief

Donate now to the TMA Foundation's UTMB Medical Student Recovery Program.

Dear Fellow Medical Student:

In the early hours of September 13, Hurricane Ike made landfall in Galveston, Texas, bringing with it torrential rains, high winds, and massive waves that caused substantial damage to the area, including severe damage to the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB), home to more than 1,000 medical students. Fires and high winds destroyed many students' homes and apartments, and many homes and apartments left standing have taken on significant amounts of water and mud. Many students lost everything; most students lost something. Classes for all first and second year UTMB students have been postponed, and nearly 600 third and fourth year students are being relocated to other areas of Texas to continue their rotations.

At this juncture, the precise needs of those affected by Hurricane Ike are not immediately clear. Some students need a place to live. Some need clothing to replace that destroyed in their water- and mud-soaked homes. Some need new textbooks so that they can continue on in their medical studies. Some need all of these things and more.

Fortunately, you can help address all of these needs simultaneously by giving to the UTMB Medical Student Recovery Program, a fund established as part of the Texas Medical Association (TMA) Foundation's Hurricane Ike Disaster Relief fund. All gifts will go directly to assisting medical students affected by Hurricane Ike continue on the path to becoming physicians.

Please be sure to check this page regularly in the coming weeks to learn more about the situation and to learn about other ways you can get involved.

Together We Are Stronger!

Sincerely,
Your MSS Governing Council 

How to get involved in Hurricane Ike recovery efforts

Hurricane Ike t-shirt fundraiser
The MSS and the American Medical Student Association (AMSA) are collaborating on a Hurricane Ike t-shirt fundraiser, the proceeds of which will go directly to UTMB students.

Display models of the t-shirt will be available for $5 to interested MSS Chapters at the Interim Meeting, so that they can bring them home for use in their own t-shirt sales events. Additional t-shirts can also be ordered at the Interim Meeting for later delivery. T-shirts can be ordered through the AMSA Web site (link coming soon) starting on Monday, Nov. 10.

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• See the t-shirt design (PDF, 382KB)

To help save administrative costs and maximize the funds passed on to UTMB students, MSS Chapters are asked to work in coordination with the AMSA Chapters at their schools so that only one bundled order is generated per school. Chapters are asked to conduct initial sales events and place orders by Nov. 22.

Donate to the Hurricane Ike Disaster Relief fund
Donate now to the TMA Foundation's UTMB Medical Student Recovery Program.

Provide temporary housing
Visit the TMA-MSS Facebook page to access forums dedicated to organizing housing for UTMB students relocated throughout Texas.

Learn more

• Visit the TMA-MSS Web page for more information about Hurricane Ike recovery efforts. 
• Visit the TMA blog to learn more about how Texas physicians affected by Hurricane Ike are managing.

Please contact the MSS with any questions.