Washington, D.C., September 16, 2008—During the upcoming national election on November 4, Colorado and Nebraska residents will be asked to vote on ballot initiatives banning race and gender-conscious programming for all public, state-funded programs-including school admissions and employee recruitment practices. AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) President and CEO Darrell G. Kirch, M.D., issued the following statement today in opposition to these two ballot measures:

"The nation's medical schools must be able to consider racial and ethnic diversity in selecting students and recruiting faculty in order to produce an effective physician workforce prepared to meet the health care needs of our increasingly diverse society. Passage of these ballot initiatives will harm the ability of Colorado and Nebraska medical schools to meet those needs, and may reverse the progress the nation has made toward diversity.

Any law that hampers attempts to increase diversity in the medical profession will have a chilling effect on academic environments, hinder efforts to increase the physician workforce, and potentially compromise equal access to quality health care for all Americans. The AAMC strongly urges Colorado and Nebraska residents to vote 'NO' on these ballot initiatives."

For information and an issue brief from the Health Professionals for Diversity Coalition—of which the AAMC is a member—go to: www.hpd-coalition.org

To read an article about these ballot initiatives in the AAMC Reporter, go to: www.aamc.org/newsroom/reporter/aug08/affaction.htm

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The Association of American Medical Colleges is a not-for-profit association representing all 130 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 nearly 90 academic and scientific societies. Through these institutions and organizations, the AAMC represents 125,000 faculty members, 70,000 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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