Washington, D.C., August 3, 2004 - Michael V. Drake, M.D., vice president of health affairs for the University of California system, has been selected to receive one of the highest honors bestowed by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). In recognition of his tireless efforts over the past 35 years to enhance diversity in the medical profession, Dr. Drake will become the fifth recipient of the Herbert W. Nickens, M.D., Award.

Named for the founding vice president of what is now the AAMC Division of Diversity Policy and Programs, the award is presented to an individual who has made outstanding contributions to promote justice in medical education and health care.

Dr. Drake's career-long efforts to recruit minority medical students and to improve health care for minority and disadvantaged communities have produced positive changes in education and policy affecting the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine, the University of California System, and the state of California.

From the beginning of his medical education experience, Dr. Drake has been an advocate for the success of minority students. In the early 1970s, as a second-year medical student, he helped organize and teach weekly review sessions for other minority students. He also participated in a community initiative to educate African-American public school students about sickle cell anemia, hypertension, and diabetes.

In the 1980s, as a young faculty member at UCSF, Dr. Drake brought about a more focused review to the admissions of disadvantaged and minority candidates. In response to a dramatic drop in underrepresented minority enrollment, he organized the first UCSF "minority recruitment weekend" and developed a committee on recruitment and retention that he chaired for 10 years - a decade in which the school saw an increase in student diversity.

In 1996, Dr. Drake and colleagues published a noteworthy paper in the New England Journal of Medicine, "The Role of Black and Hispanic Physicians in Providing Health Care for Underserved Populations." Results from this widely-cited study established that physicians from underserved populations tend to serve people from those populations.

After serving for two years as chair of the University of California Academic Senate Student Affirmative Action Committee, Dr. Drake was appointed in 1999 to serve on the Medical Student Diversity Task Force to study the effect of California's affirmative action laws on medical student enrollment. With his thorough knowledge of minority recruitment activities and affirmative action policies, Dr. Drake has been called upon to represent the university in testimony before the California legislature.

In his current position as vice president of health affairs for the university system, Dr. Drake leads a federal grant project at UCSF in which he has initiated a series of bi-national research and student exchange agreements with Mexican universities and government officials. He is also leading the creation of a dual degree program that will train physicians specifically to meet the health care needs of California's underserved populations. In addition to his activities at the university level, Dr. Drake was appointed in 2002 to join the California Health Manpower Policy Commission, and to serve on the federal Institute of Medicine committee that produced the 2004 report "In the Nation's Compelling Interest: Ensuring Diversity in the Health Care Workforce."

Dr. Drake, an ophthalmologist, received his medical degree in 1975 from UCSF and completed residency and fellowship training at UCSF Medical Center.

The award will be formally presented to Dr. Drake on November 7 at the AAMC's 115th Annual Meeting in Boston, where he will also deliver the Nickens Memorial Lecture.

Dr. Drake joins a distinguished list of Nickens Award recipients: Former Meharry Medical College Dean Anna Cherrie Epps, Ph.D. (2003); Former Surgeon General David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D. (2002); Former University of Michigan President Lee Bollinger, J.D. (2001); and University of Maryland Medical School Dean Donald Wilson, M.D. (2000).

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The Association of American Medical Colleges is a not-for-profit association representing all 129 accredited U.S. and 17 accredited Canadian medical schools; nearly 400 major teaching hospitals and health systems, including 68 Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers; and 94 academic and scientific societies. Through these institutions and organizations, the AAMC represents 109,000 faculty members, 67,000 medical students, and 104,000 resident physicians. Additional information about the AAMC and U.S. medical schools and teaching hospitals is available at www.aamc.org/newsroom.

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