AAMC at a Glance

The AAMC serves and leads the academic medicine community to improve the health of all.

Founded in 1876, the AAMC is a not-for-profit organization representing:

• All 130 accredited U.S. and 17 accredited Canadian medical schools
• Nearly 400 major teaching hospitals and health systems, including 68 Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers
• Nearly 90 academic and scientific societies

Through these institutions and organizations, the AAMC represents 125,000 faculty members, 70,000 medical students, and 104,000 resident physicians.

AAMC is governed by a seventeen member board of directors that includes deans, hospital executives, faculty, residents, students, and a public member.

The AAMC has identified the following strategic priorities:

The AAMC serves as the voice and advocate for academic medicine on medical education, research, and health care.

As the leading voice of the academic medical community, the AAMC represents the interests of the nation's medical schools and teaching hospitals before Congress, federal regulatory agencies, and the executive branch on a wide range of issues, including Medicare and Medicaid funding, federal support for medical research and public health, federal student loan programs, health professions education funding, and veterans' medical care and health research. Through various programs and initiatives, the AAMC also informs the public to build support for the unique missions of the nation's medical schools and teaching hospitals.

The AAMC leads innovation along the continuum of medical education to meet the health needs of the public.

Each year, more than 16,000 students graduate with an M.D. degree from AAMC-member medical schools, and more than 100,000 resident physicians continue their training at teaching hospitals and associated community sites across the country. The AAMC works to ensure that the medical education and advanced preparation of these new doctors meet the highest standards and keep pace with the changing needs of patients and the nation's health care system. In addition, the AAMC serves as the gateway for future physicians and medical scientists by operating the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT®), the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS®), the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS®), and the "Match," the annual process that matches graduating medical students with residency programs on behalf of the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP).

The AAMC facilitates development of a health system that meets the needs of all for access, safety, and quality of care.

The teaching hospital and health system members of the AAMC, along with their clinical faculty, provide the world's most advanced medical care. Although they constitute just 6 percent of U.S. hospitals, AAMC members account for nearly one-quarter of all hospital admissions and provide nearly half of all hospital charity care nationwide. They also operate half of all organ transplant and Level I trauma centers, and house two-thirds of all burn unit beds. Comprising general acute care facilities, as well as VA, children's, and specialty hospitals, the AAMC's members train 70 percent of all resident physicians.

The AAMC strengthens the national commitment to discovery that promotes health and enhances the treatment of disease and disability.

The nation's medical schools and teaching hospitals are major centers of research and training. More than half of all National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grants are awarded to physicians and scientists at these institutions, which also educate more than half of the nation's life science Ph.D.'s. Through numerous individual and collaborative efforts, the AAMC is a leading national advocate for the biomedical, behavioral, and health sciences research communities.

The AAMC leads efforts to increase diversity in medicine.

The association works both to increase diversity in medical education and to advance health care equity in the United States. The AAMC efforts focus on four general areas: diversifying the applicant pool and encouraging more underrepresented minorities to consider medicine as a career through AspiringDocs.org; the Summer Medical and Dental Education Program; career fairs, and other programs; working to reduce health disparities; supporting a more diverse medical school faculty and administration; and conducting research on the impact of diversity.

The AAMC is a valued and reliable resource for data, information, and services.

Medical schools and teaching hospitals, as well as the future physicians and medical scientists they train, rely on AAMC service programs such as the admission test for medical school (the MCAT examination), Web-based applications for medical school (AMCAS) and residency programs (ERAS), and the "Match," the annual process that matches graduating medical students with residency programs on behalf of the NRMP. The AAMC also provides the leaders of medical schools and teaching hospitals with an extensive array of data to support their missions, including the Curriculum Management & Information Tool (CurrMIT), an online database that offers a full array of support services designed to help medical schools manage and report on the curriculum; the Faculty Roster an online database of full-time faculty appointments at U.S. medical schools; and the AAMC Data Book, a statistical abstract of U.S. medical schools and teaching hospitals.

The AAMC provides outstanding leadership and professional development to meet the most critical needs of our members.

Professional development and networking opportunities are provided for members through the association's 14 professional development groups and more than 60 meetings held each year around the nation. Additionally, the association offers opportunities for professional development through its executive development seminars for deans and department chairs, its Team Works! program, and its Faculty Development and Leadership programs. The AAMC's annual meeting, held each fall, continues to be the largest regular gathering for leaders in academic medicine.

In addition, the AAMC seeks to help our members identify, implement, and sustain organizational performance improvement.

Efforts focus on helping our members identify and disseminate best practices for organizational effectiveness and improvement, along with highlighting innovative management practices inside and outside of academic medicine.

As a workplace, the AAMC nurtures a culture that promotes excellence in service to our members and the public good.