Washington, D.C., December 18, 2008—The AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) has implemented a new governance structure designed to involve more constituents in its work and to more closely resemble the collaborative leadership models at its member medical schools and teaching hospitals.

The new 2008-2009 AAMC Board of Directors began its new term in November. The board replaces the association's Executive Council and Executive Committee, which have been in existence for almost 40 years. The new 17-member board continues to include the AAMC president, chair, chair-elect, immediate past chair, and chairs and chairs-elect of the association's three member councils. In addition, the panel has seven at-large members, including a medical student and resident physician, and one "public member" not affiliated with the AAMC or a medical school or teaching hospital. The board is responsible for providing fiduciary and strategic oversight and general guidance to the work of the AAMC.

"While our previous governance system served the association well, we view this new structure as an important improvement and one that more closely aligns the association's leadership with the leadership of our member institutions," said AAMC President Darrell G. Kirch, M.D. "Medical schools and teaching hospitals are complex, interdisciplinary, collaborative institutions, and this new board structure reflects those values."

The AAMC initiated a comprehensive review of its governance structure in February 2007. Association members participated in the process to determine a more modern and inclusive model of governance. The new structure was approved by the AAMC Assembly last month at the association's annual meeting in San Antonio.

The members of the new AAMC Board of Directors are:

Chair:
Elliot Sussman, M.D., M.B.A., Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network, 2-year term

Chair-elect:
Deborah Powell, M.D., University of Minnesota Medical School, 3-year term

Immediate Past Chair:
Robert Desnick, Ph.D., M.D., Mount Sinai School of Medicine of New York University, 1-year term

President:
Darrell G. Kirch, M.D., AAMC, term not limited

John Forsyth, Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Iowa, 1-year term (public member)

Kelli Harding, M.D., Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, 2-year term

Randall Holmes, M.D., Ph.D., University of Colorado School of Medicine, 1-year term

Mark Laret, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, 2-year term

Thomas Lawley, M.D., Emory University School of Medicine, 1-year term

Steven Lipstein, BJC Healthcare, 1-year term

Jason Lott, University of Pennsylvania College of Medicine, 1-year term

Anthony Meyer, M.D., Ph.D., Univ. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, 2-year term

Lloyd Michener, M.D., Duke University School of Medicine, 1-year term

Lois Nora, M.D., J.D., Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy, 2-year term

E. Albert Reece, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., University of Maryland School of Medicine, 1-year term

Peter Slavin, M.D., Massachusetts General Hospital, 2-year term

Valerie Williams, Ph.D., M.P.A., University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, 2-year term

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The Association of American Medical Colleges is a not-for-profit association representing all 131 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 128,000 faculty members, 75,000 medical students, and 110,000 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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