Academic Medicine Open Forum

I've long believed that the breadth of our collective backgrounds and experiences is among academic medicine's greatest strengths. I appreciate that many of your lived experiences and perspectives are different from my own and that diversity of ideas is so important as we work toward our common mission of improving the health of people everywhere. Simply put, we need a variety of perspectives to succeed and have greater impact, and the AAMC's Board of Directors is one place we can facilitate that.

Recently, the AAMC Assembly, the voting body of the AAMC-member non-profit medical schools, teaching hospitals, and academic societies, voted to formally expand the AAMC Board of Directors from 17 to 19 voting members, along with several other changes aimed at creating a more diverse and flexible Board composition, among other revisions to advance broader engagement in the AAMC. (You can read about these and other changes to the AAMC bylaws in our press release.) The Board of Directors plays a critical role in providing strategic oversight to the AAMC, and the addition of two new at-large Board members means our work will benefit from an even broader range of insights. This is especially valuable as we advance our strategic plan, our multiyear approach to addressing systemic issues within academic medicine.

In particular, the Assembly specified that the identification of our at-large Board members is flexible according to ongoing needs, but must include at least one junior faculty member at a member institution - an update designed to keep our academic mission at our core and include a greater range of the perspectives our organization represents. Thank you to CFAS for facilitating the nomination process for this junior faculty position, providing the Board with three candidates out of a pool of more than 60 nominees.

The remaining at‐large positions may include any roles, so long as they are filled by current or former AAMC constituents in health care or higher education. While no number of Board seats can represent the full breadth of perspectives in our field, this flexibility in at-large roles allows the Board to represent varied constituent views over time.

One change for which I'm especially appreciative is the decision to increase the number of the Board's public members from one to two, with at least one public member being a community member or patient. This follows the AAMC's recent expansion of our mission in our strategic plan to include community collaboration alongside the traditional tripartite missions of medical education, clinical care, and research. The addition of a community member or patient to our Board is one way we are acting on our goal to listen to and learn from the patients, families, and communities we serve.

I believe each of these changes will further support the AAMC's ability to achieve our vision for the future. I look forward to the progress this broader Board can help us achieve together.

You can find more information about our new Board of Directors, including the members who will assume their roles on Nov. 10 following the conclusion of Learn Serve Lead: The Virtual Experience, on our website. Please join me in welcoming our new colleagues as we work together to a improve the health of people everywhere.

Finally, I would be remiss if I did not mention the virtual AAMC Awards celebration last week, which recognized many of the best minds in academic medicine across education, patient care, research, and community engagement. If you are looking for inspiration as you continue your work, I encourage you to learn more about your colleagues' remarkable work by viewing a recording of the event.

All best,

David