Washington, D.C., June 8, 2009—AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) President and CEO Darrell G. Kirch, M.D., issued the following statement today on U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius's recent announcement that the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) would provide nearly 3,300 new loan repayments for health professions training. The $200 million in repayment funds were made possible by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA):

"The AAMC is enormously gratified to see Secretary Sebelius make this commitment to our nation's health care workforce. The AAMC has long believed that the National Health Service Corps's field strength should be doubled to strengthen access to primary care and assist with the costs of physician training. This new wave of support from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is a major step toward achieving these objectives. NHSC clinicians provide much-needed primary care to some of our nation's most vulnerable populations, and their service and expertise will only grow more critical in the future. The AAMC and our member medical centers look forward to continuing our solid partnership with the corps and to working with the Health Resources and Services Administration and the Obama administration to advance health care training and access."

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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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