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Contact: Media Relations Officer, (202) 828-0041.
AAMC Selects David Stevens, M.D., To Lead Association's Medical School Accreditation Efforts
Washington, D.C., July 23, 1999 - The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) today appointed David P. Stevens, M.D., to head the Association's Division of Medical School Standards and Assessments, effective September 7, 1999. Dr. Stevens will also serve as joint secretary of the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), the accrediting body for all U.S. and Canadian medical schools. He will replace Donald Kassebaum, M.D., who has headed the division since its founding in 1992 and is retiring on October 1.
"The AAMC is thrilled to have identified a person of the caliber of Dr. Stevens for this critically important position," said AAMC President Jordan J. Cohen, M.D. "We believe Dr. Stevens is exceptionally well qualified, and will add great strength to the LCME as it works to ensure the preeminence of the U.S. medical education system."
Since 1996, Dr. Stevens has served as the chief academic affiliations officer for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in Washington, D.C. The Office of Academic Affiliations oversees formal relationships with 107 medical schools as well as 1,200 other universities and colleges. Through these affiliations, the VA supports 10 percent of the nation's graduate medical education (GME) activities. Over one-third of the nation's medical residents and one-half of all U.S. medical students receive training at VA facilities each year.
While at the VA, Dr. Stevens enhanced training in primary care -- increasing the proportion of generalist residency positions in the VA from 36 percent to 48 percent -- and established subspecialty residency training that emphasizes access and continuity of care for the seriously and chronically ill. In addition, the office launched new initiatives that included: training in health care quality improvement; greater emphasis on learning in interdisciplinary care settings; and training for improved care of patients near the end of life.
"This is an era of dramatic change in health care. I look forward to my work with the nation's medical schools in their continuing efforts to improve the health of America's communities," said Dr. Stevens. "LCME's role in the accreditation of medical schools provides a powerful opportunity to ensure that future physicians meet our country's health care needs."
In addition to providing administrative support, in partnership with the American Medical Association (AMA), for the complex process of medical school accreditation, the AAMC's Division of Medical School Standards and Assessment conducts research on medical education, assessment and accreditation using the LCME's extensive data collection instruments.
In 1995-96, Dr. Stevens was a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow at the Institute of Medicine in Washington, D.C. In this capacity, he served as health policy advisor to now-retired Senator Nancy Landon Kassebaum (R-Kan.), chair of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee. Prior to his arrival in Washington, he was vice dean and the Scott R. Inkley professor of medicine at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, and was instrumental in the creation of the Robert Wood Johnson Generalist Physician Initiative.
Dr. Stevens is a member of the federal Council on Graduate Medical Education (COGME), AMA's GME Advisory Committee, and the national advisory board to the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program. In addition, he has published numerous scientific and policy papers in peer reviewed journals, such as the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and the AAMC's Academic Medicine.
Dr. Stevens holds a bachelor's degree from Ohio State University and medical degree from Western Reserve University School of Medicine. He completed his internship at Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital, residency at Cleveland University Hospitals, and fellowship at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, Australia.
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The Association of American Medical Colleges represents the 125 accredited U.S. medical schools; the 16 accredited Canadian medical schools; some 400 major teaching hospitals, including 74 Veterans Administration medical centers; 87 academic and professional societies representing nearly 88,000 faculty members; and the nation's 67,000 medical students and 102,000 residents.
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