Becoming a COTH Member

Membership in COTH is limited to organizations having a documented affiliation agreement with a medical school accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME). Typically, these organizations must sponsor, or participate significantly in, at least four approved, active residency programs. At least two of the approved residency programs should be in medicine, surgery, obstetrics/gynecology, pediatrics, family practice, or psychiatry. Membership applications to COTH are reviewed by the COTH Administrative Board, which serves as the AAMC's membership committee for hospital participation. Under certain circumstances, and for certain types of hospitals such as children's, VA, military and specialty hospitals, the COTH Administrative Board may approve full membership for hospitals and health systems that do not meet the full membership requirements.

Institutions that do not meet full membership criteria may apply for corresponding COTH membership. Corresponding members are eligible to attend all open AAMC meetings and enjoy many of the privileges of full members, but are not eligible to participate in AAMC committees, the COTH Administrative Board, the AAMC Executive Council, the AAMC Assembly or other AAMC governance structures. Organizations meeting full membership criteria, or who are offered full membership in certain situations, will not be considered for corresponding membership.

Membership Options

(A) Individual Teaching Hospital Membership. This option is intended for freestanding teaching hospitals that wish to join as individual teaching hospitals (even though they may be members of a system).

(B) Common Teaching Hospital/Health System Membership - This option is intended for non-federal COTH members who are the only COTH eligible hospital within a health system, or health systems which have multiple COTH-eligible hospitals but where (1) it has been determined that all COTH eligible hospitals do not wish to be members of COTH, or (2) the COTH eligible hospitals prefer to retain their individual hospital membership status. This option provides the system with complimentary COTH membership (as part of the hospital's membership), forming a single member with the same dues structure as Option (A) and a single governance vote.

(C) Multiple Teaching Hospital/Health System Membership - This membership option is designed for systems where all non-federal COTH eligible hospitals within a health system are currently COTH members or wish to be COTH members, though they will still retain the privileges and benefits of individual members. Multiple teaching hospital/health system membership also entitles the system to complimentary membership by virtue of its hospitals' memberships. A multiple teaching hospital/health system member will have as many governance votes as the number of its COTH member hospitals.

Corresponding COTH Membership - Institutions that are not deemed eligible for full membership criteria but fulfill a crucial educational and service role in the community may apply for corresponding COTH membership under Option A.