Community Rules & Guidelines

Last Updated: February 25, 2025

Thank you for being part of the Association of American Medical Colleges: AAMC Communities. To ensure the best possible experience for all members, we have established some basic rules and 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 form 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 (Rules). You also agree to reserve discussions and shared files and content that are 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 Penny Schnarrs at pschnarrs@aamc.org or legal@aamc.org.  
 
Please take a moment to acquaint yourself with these important Rules. You understand that AAMC reserves the right to revise these Rules from time to 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 do not comport in a manner consistent 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.  

  • AAMC Communities are not intended for third-party commercial messages or administrative support for third-party products or services, unless the third-party product or service is a precondition to the successful use of one of the AAMC services (e.g., resident matching and licensure exam organizations).  

  • “Third party commercial messages” are messages with the purpose of advertising or promoting a non-AAMC commercial product or service. A reference to a third-party product or service, or a link to a third-party website, is acceptable provided that the purpose of sharing the information is not to advertise or promote a third-party product or service. Advertising or promoting third-party products or services includes links intended to gather contact leads in exchange for resources, webinars, etc. 

  • “Administrative support” includes information that could reasonably be sought directly from the third-party product or service (e.g., user guidance, troubleshooting). 

  • Note: AAMC generally makes certain other opportunities available for third party commercial actors, such as mailing lists, sponsorships, and exhibit hall space available at widely attended AAMC meetings. 

  • Post your message or documents only to the most appropriate communities. This helps ensure all messages receive the best response by eliminating "noise."  

  • 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 the community is open, posts are identifiable, and there is no confidentiality.

  • Information posted in the discussion groups and in the libraries is available for all to see. 

  • Think before sharing confidential information. The burden is on you to be sensitive to the contents of what you share. 

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. 

Politics

  • Do not post statements in support of, or in opposition to, a candidate for public office. 

Respect intellectual property and the copyrights of others. 

  • Respect copyrights of others.  

  • Post content that you have personally created or have permission to use and have properly attributed to the content creator. By sharing material, you represent you either own the copyright with respect to such material or have received permission from the copyright owner to post. When in doubt, link to the original source. 

  • By posting content you grant AAMC the nonexclusive right to reproduce, modify, and distribute the posted content. 

Follow antitrust laws and competition guidelines.

  • No communication may contain information that violates antitrust laws. 

  • The antitrust laws generally prohibit agreements among competitors on price, salaries, or other topics affecting the ways they compete against each other. Those laws can also prohibit talking about those topics or exchanging information if that discussion or exchange leads to a lessening of competition. The antitrust laws apply to for-profit and nonprofit institutions, including colleges, universities, and hospitals, and prohibit agreements reducing competition for students, medical residents, doctors, and other employees. 

  • In light of these prohibitions, do not communicate for the purpose of agreeing with others, or post any non-public material on competitively sensitive topics such as: 

  • Current or future prices, billing rates, billing procedures, managed care discounts, or reimbursement levels; 

  • Tuition, fees, financial aid methodologies, awards, or packages; 

  • Salaries, wages, stipends, fringe benefits, or any terms of employment; 

  • Credit terms; 

  • Statements about what constitutes fair, appropriate, or “rational” price or profit margins; 

  • Confidential business or strategic plans regarding future product or service offerings; 

  • Statements about allocating markets or encouraging collective activity against third-party payers, hospitals, suppliers, or other entities; 

  • Statements inviting others not to compete in any market; 

  • Statements about boycotting another’s business; 

  • Statements disparaging the business practices of individual organizations, suppliers or others; and 

  • Information that could otherwise reasonably be construed as an agreement or invitation to reduce competition. 

  • Do not communicate any non-public information about any ongoing litigation relating to antitrust, employment matters, or other topics. 

 
Note: you may communicate factual information about your personal experience with a product or service if you have been asked for such information. Please contact individuals directly with product and service information if you believe it would help them. 

 

Community Rules for Sharing Surveys & Research Opportunities 

  • Non-AAMC Surveys: We do not allow the sharing of non-AAMC surveys through most AAMC Communications Channels. However, we offer a designated space in the Surveys & Research Opportunities sub-community of the AAMC Communities Network for these types of opportunities (login required to access).  

 

Guidelines for Vendor Participation in AAMC Communities

A “Vendor” is an employee of a non-AAMC member institution, which may provide products, service, or solutions relevant to academic medicine. Vendors include, but are not limited to, professionals working in education technology, application management, curriculum development, and data analytics.  

  • Vendors may participate in a specific AAMC Community in accordance with that Community’s guidelines. A vendor’s participation is intended to foster knowledge-sharing and collaboration while maintaining a non-commercial environment. 

  • Vendors may not:  

  • Use the member directory for solicitations. 

  • Post discussions or answers that reference a vendor or software tool, whether theirs or a competitor's. 

 

Disclaimer

This site is provided as a service the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).  We disclaim all warranties with regard to information posted to AAMC Communities, whether posted by the AAMC or any third party.