AAMC Authors Contribute to Special JAMA Issue Minority faculty promotion rates, growth in faculty salaries, and medical school finances were among the topics discussed by AAMC authors in the Journal of the American Medical Association's annual issue on medical education, published Sept. 6.

Is Spirituality Good Medicine? Bridging the Divide Between Science and Faith Martin Jones, M.D., director of the Spirituality and Medicine Program at Howard University College of Medicine, uses this painting by Rembrandt to illustrate the traditional role of spirituality in medicine.

Leadership Q & A: Debt Defying: Med School Leader Works to Improve Financial Aid The growing cost of higher education has raised new questions about whether lower- and even middle-income students can afford to attend the school of their choice without incurring staggering debt. Medical students, who in 1999 graduated with an average debt of $90,745, are no exception.

Academic Medicine Goes Online The electronic edition is free to all Web users throughout 2000. Beginning in 2001, access will be restricted to subscribers.

Reclaiming Our Province: The Role of Academic Medical Centers in Clinical Trials We in the academic research community now can ask, who is best equipped to take on a medical training mission of such magnitude?

'The Right Thing to Do': Medical Schools Address Student Wellness From the first gross anatomy lab lesson to the first night on call and code blue, medical school involves numerous anxiety-ridden situations. Add to that the possibility of adjusting to a new town, eating and exercise habits gone awry, and lack of a social life, and the lives of medical students can prove downright trying.

Med Schools Prepare Students to Practice in Rural Areas Physicians are in increasingly short supply in rural communities nationwide. A staggering 20 million Americans in rural communities have inadequate access to health care services, according to Health Resources and Services Administration estimates.

Group on Graduate Research, Education, and Training The AAMC's 12 professional development groups are the point of entry for many AAMC constituents. Each month this year, the AAMC Reporter will describe a group's activities.

The Caring Side of Medicine: Reaching Out to Communities Kormor, Kenya, Summer 1999: "We must be knowledgeable, skilled, and competent in the science of medicine. However, medicine is also an art that requires tenderness. Here, Christy Seltzer of the AIM summer medical team holds Faith on the family shamba, or farm."

Sandra Taylor, Third-year medical student University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.

This series features photographs from medical students and residents selected as winners of the AAMC's 2000-2001 photography contest, "The Caring Side of Medicine: Reaching Out to Communities."

In Brief