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Washington, D.C., October 29, 2006 — In his inaugural address as president of the AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges), Darrell G. Kirch, M.D., today called upon the nation's medical schools and teaching hospitals to take the lead in reaffirming higher education, scientific discovery, and health care as "public goods" worthy of more national support.

Dr. Kirch's remarks, "In Search of the Public Good," were presented at the association's 117th annual meeting in Seattle, Washington.

While the nation has historically supported higher education, biomedical research, and health care as vital public goods, Dr. Kirch said each is currently in danger of being treated liked "any other commodity, subject to the whims of the marketplace." Medical schools and teaching hospitals, sit at the "intersection" of these public goods and are "uniquely positioned" to address this challenge to the country's social values.

Expressing concern about rising medical student tuition and debt, a National Institutes of Health budget that is losing ground with inflation, and rising numbers of uninsured Americans, Dr. Kirch said, "the time is here to take the risk and leap together into a new national discussion, not a partisan debate," about how the nation can best support education, scientific discovery, and health care for all as public goods.

Dr. Kirch noted that medical schools and teaching hospitals can only exert this leadership if they get "their own houses in order" first by critically reassessing their "pursuit of institutional self-interest and the way it obscures pursuit of the public good." He challenged the association's members to rethink legislative earmarks, consider some form of caps for medical student tuition and debt, support important research even if it is unprofitable, and give "mission" as much weight as "margin" when making tough decisions about clinical services.

As a nation, Dr. Kirch also stressed the need to fix the problem of unfunded liabilities in Medicare and Social Security, rather than leaving them to the next generation, and to get beyond party lines by demanding a "rhetoric-free zone" where "reasoned discussions about the public good could take place."

While acknowledging that investing in education, research and health care has costs that will require personal contributions as well as sacrifices, Dr. Kirch said that "energizing support for these public goods is a matter of collective will and shared accountability" that "may be this generation's best opportunity to be 'great' and to create a shared legacy actually worth leaving to our children."

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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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