Community Rules & Etiquette and Privacy Guidelines

Thank you for being part of our community. To ensure the best possible experience for all members, we have established some basic guidelines for participation. This is a great platform with which to solicit the advice of your peers, benefit from their experience, and participate in an ongoing conversation. Questions should be directed to the AAMC Member Services department via the Contact Us page on this site.

Acceptance of AAMC Communities Rules
By joining and using AAMC Communities, you agree that you have read and will follow these rules throughout your AAMC Communities participation. You also agree to reserve discussions and shared files and content to that best suited to this medium. Further, your use of AAMC Communities is governed by the AAMC Website Terms and Conditions and Privacy Statement, as amended from time to time. If you have any questions about these rules, please contact webmaster@aamc.org.  

Please take a moment to acquaint yourself with these important rules. You understand that the AAMC reserves the right to revise these rules at any time without providing notice to you. Your continued use of AAMC Communities after such revision marks your acceptance of the rules as revised. We recommend you review these rules regularly, as they are subject to change.

In order to preserve an environment that encourages both civil and productive dialogue, the AAMC reserves the right to delete posts that are not in compliance with these rules. Further, the AAMC reserves the right to suspend or terminate community access for members who do not comport themselves in a manner consistent with these rules.

The Rules

• Respect the purpose of the community.
  • Use the community to share successes, challenges, constructive feedback, questions, and goals instead of the products or services that you provide. Do not post commercial messages.
  • Commercial or promotional messages are messages with the primary purpose to advertise or promote a commercial product or service, including content on a website operated for commercial purposes. A reference to a commercial entity or a link to the website of a commercial entity does not alone make it a commercial email. This includes links intended to gather leads by collecting email addresses or other contact information in exchange for resources, webinars, etc.
  • AAMC policy prohibits the use of AAMC Communities to advertise job openings. However, position announcements that appear on AAMC CareerConnect may be linked.
• Respect that many community pages are open and there is no confidentiality.
  • Information posted on the discussion groups and in the libraries is available for all community members to see.
  • Think before you post confidential information. The burden is on you to be sensitive to the contents of what you post.
• Respect others.
  • All defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials are strictly prohibited. Do not post anything that you would not want the world to see or that you would not want anyone to know came from you.
  • Don’t challenge or attack others. The discussions and comments are meant to stimulate conversation, not create contention. Let others have their say, just as you may have yours.
  • Focus on the content of posts and not on the people making them. Please extend the benefit of the doubt to newer guests and members; there’s no such thing as a stupid question.
  • Post your message or documents only to the most appropriate communities. This helps ensure all messages receive the best response by eliminating "noise."
• Respect intellectual property.
  • Post content that you have personally created or have permission to use and have properly attributed to the content creator. By posting content, you represent that you either own the copyright or have received permission from the copyright owner for use in this manner.
  • Further, by posting content, you grant AAMC the nonexclusive right to reproduce, modify, and distribute the posted content.
  • When posting items in our collaborative environment, please indicate if the item is not available for reuse by members of the community. It’s also advisable to contact the owner of any material if you would like to reuse it.
• Respect antitrust laws.
  • No post may contain information that violates antitrust laws.
  • No post may encourage or facilitate members to make any agreement that either expressly or impliedly leads to price fixing, a boycott of another's business, or other conduct intended to inhibit free and fair competition.
  • Do not post any nonpublic material that discusses, including but not limited to, the following:
    • In general: prices, discounts, or terms or conditions of sale; profits, profit margins, or cost data; market shares, sales territories, or future product or service offerings.
    • As related to your institution: salaries (including ranges), current or prospective wage formation, stipends, or terms of employment; tuition or fees; allocation of customers or territories (including patient markets); or selection, rejection, or termination of customers or suppliers.
      • Note: There is a recognized “safe harbor” for information-sharing that satisfies the following conditions: (a) the collection of information is managed by a third-party; (b) the information provided is based on data more than 3 months old; and (c) there are at least five data providers and the disseminated results are sufficiently aggregated so no result is attributable to a particular provider.
    • As related to other organizations or suppliers: discounts, rebates, service charges, or other terms and conditions of purchase and sale; whether to do business with certain suppliers, customers, or competitors; or otherwise disparages the business practices of individual organizations, suppliers, etc.
      • Note: You may provide factual information about your personal experience with a product or service directly to another party that makes a request for such information.

• Respect the AAMC’s not-for-profit status.
  • Do not post statements in support of or in opposition to a candidate for public office.

Disclaimer
This site is provided as a service for the constituents of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). The AAMC is not responsible for the opinions and information posted to AAMC Communities, except if posted by an AAMC employee within the scope of their employment. We disclaim all warranties with regard to information posted to AAMC Communities, whether posted by the AAMC or any third party.