A Healthier Future for All: The AAMC Strategic Plan

About the AAMC Strategic Plan

The AAMC’s strategic plan addresses the rapidly changing landscape of medical education, health care, medical research, and community collaborations. Developed with extensive input from the academic medicine community, the plan tackles challenges and acts on opportunities affecting patients, communities, health care, and academic medicine.

Today’s environment for health care, medical education, and research is as daunting as ever. Yet these obstacles only steel our resolve to lead transformative change and underscore the profound impact of the lifesaving and life-changing work at academic health systems and medical schools. By leading, serving, and advocating for academic medicine, we remain steadfast in our pursuit of better health for people everywhere.

The AAMC’s strategic plan positions the association to lead in a dynamic world, enhancing learning, discovery, health care, and community collaborations — regardless of what the future holds.

Systemic change requires systemic action. That’s why, with the support of our members and a community of experts, the AAMC’s strategic plan is structured around four key impact areas.

Shape the workforce of academic medicine

Whether a learner is beginning to explore a career in medicine, applying to medical school, pursuing their MD degree, or applying to residency, the AAMC supports them every step of the way.

The AAMC’s strategic plan focuses on delivering an integrated system of knowledge, guidance, and support to empower future physicians to explore and make confident choices in their journeys and focus on serving patients and communities.

As a leader in the research, development, and delivery of solutions across the medical education continuum and in supporting the entire field of academic medicine, the AAMC is an indispensable partner to institutions and specialties in guiding the future physician workforce from inspiration to practice.

Learn more about the AAMC’s strategies to support learners and our communitywide collaborations to improve the transition to residency.

Catalyze solutions for the biggest challenges facing academic medicine

For nearly 150 years, the AAMC has been at the forefront of innovation and transformation in medical education and health care.

In medical education, the AAMC’s strategic plan ensures that medical students acquire the skills and knowledge to meet the needs of their patients, emphasizing competency over time-based training. Learn more about competency-based medical education and the foundational competencies in medical education.

In health care delivery, the AAMC’s strategic plan supports the unique environment of academic health systems — where top-tier medical expertise intersects with cutting-edge research — making them vital to training the next generation of physicians and health care professionals. The AAMC’s strategic plan has been advancing the uptake of integrated behavioral care in both primary and specialty care and identifying the optimal use of technology to enhance these models of care.

Facilitate pathways and foster environments so that people from all backgrounds and experiences thrive in academic medicine

The AAMC is committed to a culture of excellence in medical schools and academic health systems where every member of the academic medicine community can thrive. Attracting and advancing a talented workforce begins with inspiring and preparing students from an early age to pursue careers in medicine, health sciences, and biomedical research, ensuring the next generation reflects the full spectrum of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives needed in our complex and interconnected society.

Through innovations like Restorative Practices in Academic Medicine, summer enrichment programs, flexible admissions models, and data and reports to support a thriving biomedical research workforce, the AAMC’s strategic plan fosters environments where all perspectives are valued and opportunities are accessible to everyone.

Adapt the AAMC to the changing needs of academic medicine

As academic medicine and health care undergo rapid transformation, the AAMC must change, too. The evolving operations and structures in academic medicine call for the AAMC to reassess our strategies, programs, and opportunities for member engagement.

Through the strategic plan, the AAMC is rigorously evaluating how to expand and deepen its impact to realize our vision of a healthier future through learning, discovery, health care, and community collaborations.