WASHINGTON, D.C., November 5, 2005 - Thomas M. Priselac, M.P.H., president and chief executive officer of Cedars-Sinai Health System, began his one-year tenure today as chair of the AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges). He succeeds N. Lynn Eckhert, M.D., M.P.H., Dr.P.H., director of academic programs for Harvard Medical International.

Mr. Priselac has been associated with Cedars-Sinai Health System for more than two decades, serving as executive vice president until 1994 when he assumed his current role. He is former chair of the AAMC Council of Teaching Hospitals and Health Systems and serves as an adjunct faculty member of the University of California, Los Angeles School of Public Health. He is a member of the American Hospital Association Board of Directors and chairs the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce Health Committee. He is also a member of the board of trustees of the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science.

Mr. Priselac earned a bachelor's degree in biology from Washington and Jefferson College in Pennsylvania, and a master's degree in public health, health services administration and planning from the University of Pittsburgh.

*Darrell Kirch, M.D., was named chair-elect today. He is senior vice president for health affairs at Pennsylvania State University and dean of its college of medicine, and chief executive officer of the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. He will succeed Priselac as chair of the association next year.

Dr. Kirch served as chair of the AAMC Council of Deans from 2003-2004. In 2004 he was appointed co-chair of the Liaison Committee on Medical Education. He is also former chair of the governing council of the American Medical Association's Section on Medical Schools.

Before joining Penn State in 2000, Dr. Kirch was senior vice president for clinical activities and dean of the school of medicine of the Medical College of Georgia. He also once served as acting scientific director for the National Institute of Mental Health, one of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Kirch earned both his bachelors and medical degrees from the University of Colorado. He completed residency training in psychiatry at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.

*Update: On November 29, 2005, the AAMC announced that Dr. Darrell Kirch will become the association's next president. He will replace Jordan J. Cohen, M.D., upon Dr. Cohen's retirement in June 2006. Richard D. Krugman, M.D., dean of the University of Colorado School of Medicine, will replace Dr. Kirch as chair-elect. Dr. Krugman will become chair of the association in November 2006.

Dr. Krugman, a professor of pediatrics, has served as dean of the University of Colorado School of Medicine since 1992. He is also president of the medical school's faculty practice plan. From 2001-2002 he served as chair of the AAMC Council of Deans. He is a graduate of Princeton University and earned his medical degree at New York University School of Medicine. A board-certified pediatrician, he did his internship and residency in pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

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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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