Ask people what the AAMC does, and they might say: “The MCAT® exam, right?” And yes, we administer the standardized admissions exam taken by roughly 95,000 aspiring physicians each year — but that’s a bit like describing NASA as “the people who go to the moon.” The MCAT exam is just one part of a much larger mission.
For 150 years, the AAMC has been the connective tissue of medical education in the United States and Canada — setting standards, advancing research, supporting educators, and developing the future physician workforce. Our work spans from the undergraduate student just starting to consider a career in medicine, to the resident caring for patients at the bedside, to the faculty researcher pushing the boundaries of science.
If you have trained, instructed, or served as an administrator within medical education, our work touches yours. Here’s an overview of ways we are leading the field.
For Aspiring Physicians
Whether you are just starting to explore a career in medicine, attending medical school, or applying to residency, the AAMC is here to support you every step of the way:
- Aspiring Docs® stories provide resources for those just beginning to explore medicine, including fact sheets, personal narratives from physicians, and guidance on starting the path to medical school.
- The AMCAS® program streamlines the application process for the 50,000-plus students who apply to medical school each year.
- The Fee Assistance Program distributes millions annually in reduced or waived fees, helping prevent cost from barring qualified applicants from pursuing medicine.
- The Official Guide to Medical School Admissions is the authoritative resource for applicants, offering expert tips on the admissions process, financial guidance, and national applicant data to help candidates prepare and apply strategically.
- Our residency resources equip medical students with tools and data — including the Residency Explorer™ tool and the Residency Preference Exercise — about research programs and how to build an effective application strategy across more than 40 specialties.
- The Organization of Student Representatives and Organization of Resident Representatives represent medical students and residents, respectively, giving them an active role in advancing our mission.
- The Students and Residents hub offers a range of other resources for learners at different points of the medical education journey.
For Medical Educators, Researchers, and Administrators
Teaching medicine is itself a discipline that requires peer networks, access to scholarship, and ongoing development. The AAMC provides all three, serving medical educators across specialties:
- The AAMC’s affinity groups support faculty development, curriculum design, scholarship, assessment, and administration.
- MedEdPORTAL and Academic Medicine — the AAMC’s premier, peer-reviewed journals — provide resources and research that advance the practice of medical education.
- Professional development programs, the AAMC Virtual Communities network, and regular events, webinars, and conferences connect educators across institutions.
For Institutions
Medical schools look to the AAMC for accreditation standards, data, and resources that help them improve how they train the next generation of physicians:
- We lead the development of competencies in foundational and emerging areas, defining the knowledge, skills, and values doctors need across the full continuum of medical education.
- We publish extensive data and research, from applicant trends to physician workforce projections, that schools, health systems, and policymakers rely on to make decisions that impact not only academic medicine but the health of the nation.
- The Electronic Residency Application Service® (ERAS®) streamlines the transition from medical school to residency — empowering residency programs to more efficiently receive and review candidates.
For the Field as a Whole
Beyond serving its member institutions, the AAMC works to shape the broader conditions, like policy, research, and emerging technology, that will define academic medicine for decades to come:
- The AAMC is actively shaping how medical schools and health systems respond to technologies like telehealth and artificial intelligence, helping develop guidance and best practices across the academic medicine community.
- We regularly conduct and publish research on a wide range of issues impacting academic medicine like enrollment trends, workforce engagement insights, and student debt — informing both institutional practice and national policy.
- Through advocacy in Washington and beyond, we champion investment in graduate medical education, medical research, workforce development programs, student aid, and the academic health systems that serve as the backbone of physician training.
This is not an extensive list, but an overview of our offerings.