The Community Service Organization (CSO) was created in the fall of 2007 in an effort to raise awareness about service opportunities for the students of the JCESOM. The idea was to bring together students from all four years of medical education to discover and discuss the needs of the tri-state area. Before medical school, most students were very heavily involved in their local communities. However, the combination of many students being unfamiliar with the organizations of the tri-state, along with the more demanding schedule of medical education, left many students not participating as they once were. We hoped to search out and coordinate community service opportunities, provide as contacts for those students wanting to participate in the community, and to recognize students for their efforts. We hoped to create a lasting organization that continued to expand itself throughout the community to allow students to give back in ways much different than their future career fields.

The Community Service Organization (CSO) is, and always will be, a student run organization. Student Affairs simply serves as the administrative body to supervise and fund recognition for the CSO much like they do for other organizations in this medical school. Your fellow classmates dictate the direction of the organization (your specifically elected CSO representatives and CSO president), thus if you have any questions, please bring them to your elected officials.

Students will be made aware through class elections of Community Service Liaisons who form the Community Service Organization. Those students elected as Community Service Liaisons are responsible for making their peers aware of opportunities as well as taking leadership roles in the development and implementation of service learning. Representatives will send out emails to the class list-serves as well as make announcements in class detailing upcoming community service events throughout the community.