AAMC Humanism in Medicine Award

The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), through the generous support of the Pfizer Medical Humanities Initiative, annually recognizes a medical school faculty physician who exemplifies the qualities of a caring and compassionate mentor in the teaching and advising of medical students. The candidate must also possess the desirable personal qualities necessary to the practice of patient-centered medicine.

The AAMC's Organization of Student Representatives (OSR) will administer the national nomination and selection process for the Humanism in Medicine award. The recipient will be honored during a formal awards ceremony conducted each year during the AAMC Annual Meeting.

The goal of the award is to emphasize and reinforce among medical school students and faculty the importance of humanistic qualities and the enhancement of the interactions between medical school students and faculty. The presence of a caring, compassionate, and collaborative learning environment serves as positive reinforcement to prospective physicians of the desirability of such qualities in the doctor-patient relationship.

2008 Humanism in Medicine Award Brochure (PDF, 2 pages)

Selection Criteria

The criteria to be employed in the selection of the recipient will include the assessment of his or her professional and personal skills, personal attributes, and professional and academic activities that provide evidence of the nominee's possession of the following five qualities and characteristics:

• Positive Mentoring Skills
• Involvement in Community Service
• Compassion/Sensitivity
• Collaboration with Students and Patients
• Modeling Ethics of the Profession

Additional information considered for each of the five main categories

Written nominations must provide evidence and documentation of the nominee's possession of these five primary qualities and characteristics. Nominations should also include academic, mentoring, advising and counseling activities that demonstrate the nominee's effectiveness in role modeling the importance of these qualities to students, patients and faculty colleagues. Specific Selection Criteria

The Nomination and Selection Process

Each medical school will have the opportunity to nominate one physician faculty member. The nomination process will be conducted and supervised by the Organization of Student Representatives (OSR) in each medical school. The OSR representative will be responsible for distributing information to students within his/her institution by announcing the nomination process and describing the selection criteria. The OSR representative will appoint an institutional selection committee composed of medical student representatives of each of the four years of medical study. Upon completion of the selection process, the Dean of Student Affairs will be required to sign off on the institution's nominee. The OSR representative will notify the nominee of the award nomination.

The AAMC will provide each OSR primary representative with nomination materials and nomination form. Additional announcement materials will be provided to the OSR primary representative to assist in publicizing the nomination process. These nomination materials will include:

1. a description of the criteria for the award
2. a description of the nomination and selection process
3. necessary forms for submitting nominations
4. brochures for distribution

The Final Selection Committee will be composed of a maximum of six OSR Administrative Board members. The appointment of the selection committee will include representation from each of the AAMC's four regions. AAMC and Pfizer staff will serve as advisors to the selection committee.

The Final Selection Committee will meet during the summer for a period of two days to select the national award recipient. The national award recipient will be recognized and honored during the 2008 AAMC Annual Meeting.

The Calendar

• The 2009 nomination process will commence no later than December 2008.
• The 2008 national award recipient will be announced and honored at the 2008 AAMC Annual Meeting in San Antonio, TX.
• The selection process will be completed by August 2008.
• The award recipient will be notified at the time of selection
• The name of the award recipient is embargoed until the AAMC Annual Meeting in November 2008.
• All nominees for the award will be notified of the recipient after the AAMC Annual Meeting.

The Award

The 2008 national recipient will be honored at the 2008 AAMC Annual Meeting Awards Dinner and will be invited to speak to the Organization of Student Representatives about the importance of humanism in medicine. The honoree will also receive a crystal award piece and a grant of $5,000. $1000 will be donated to the nominating institution's OSR interest group to be designated for OSR related activities. All nominees will receive a commemorative plaque following the AAMC Annual Meeting.

For more information, contact:

Ally Anderson
Manager, Student and Community Service Programs
Section for Student Affairs and Programs
Association of American Medical Colleges
2450 N Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20037-1127

aanderson@aamc.org
202-828-0682

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