Community Rules & Guidelines

Last Updated: December 15, 2022


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 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 this Rules please contact Stephanie Weiner, AAMC Director of Digital Strategy and Engagement, at sweiner@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. 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 the community is open, posts are identifiable, and there is no confidentiality.
    • Posts may be subpoenaed and, as a result, produced as discovery in litigation or investigations.
    • Information posted on the discussion groups and in the libraries is available for all 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 to create contention. Let others have their say, just as you may.
    • 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."
    • Do not post statements in support or, or in opposition to, a candidate for public office.

 

  • 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 posting 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 post non-public material or for the purpose of coming to an agreement with others 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;
      • What constitutes fair, appropriate, or “rational” price or profit margins;
      • Confidential business, strategic plans regarding future product/service offerings;
      • Allocating markets or encouraging collective activity against third-party payers, hospitals, suppliers, or other entities;
      • Inviting others not to compete in any market;
      • Boycotting another’s business;
      • Disparaging the business practices of individual organizations, suppliers, others; and
      • Information that could otherwise reasonably be construed as an agreement or invitation to reduce competition.
    • Do not post any non-public information about any ongoing litigation relating to antitrust, employment matters, or other topics.
    • Note: you may post 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.


Guidelines for Vendor Participation in AAMC Communities
Curriculum Inventory (CI) Vendors

  • Each CI participating vendor who is in “good standing” is granted one seat in the community.
    • We may re-evaluate this limitation to 1 staff member later, but we would like to keep it limited to begin with. The purpose of the limitation is to ensure that we keep the community membership to those who truly intend to be active users.
    • Good standing means that the AAMC has a signed, active data exchange agreement, and the vendor’s submitted profile questionnaire.
  • The purpose of vendor access to the community is to allow vendors greater visibility and understanding of school needs and challenges around curriculum, so that their software programs and services may be improved.
  • Vendors may not use the member directory for solicitations.
  • Vendors may not post discussions or answers which reference a vendor or software tool, whether theirs or a competitor.
  • The community is not to be used for marketing or advertising purposes or to solicit schools.
  • Vendors must agree to these ground rules prior to joining the community and remain compliant with these rules and the Community Rules and Guidelines when using the community.
  • AAMC reserves the right to delete any posts that do not comply with these rules and to suspend or revoke a vendor’s access to the community if multiple or egregious violations of these rules occur.

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.