Deans’ Assistants Group (DAG)

Deans’ assistants play a vital role in the success of medical schools. By tracking national trends in academic medicine, coordinating communication among leadership, faculty, and students, and managing a wide range of operational responsibilities, they help ensure that medical schools run effectively and remain positioned to educate future generations of physicians.

The Deans’ Assistants Group (DAG) serves as a national hub for professional growth, connection, and shared learning for individuals in these multifaceted roles. Through programming and peer engagement, DAG offers a collaborative space to exchange best practices and insights on administrative leadership, institutional operations, and policy issues shaping medical education, research, and patient care. By bringing together colleagues from medical schools across the country, DAG strengthens both individual professional development and cross-institutional collaboration.

As medical schools navigate an increasingly complex and evolving landscape, the continued engagement and development of DAG members is essential. Their collective expertise and collaboration help ensure that medical schools are equipped to meet emerging challenges and advance their missions.

Alison Whelan, MD
Chief Academic Officer

The Deans' Assistants Group committees offer numerous opportunities for members to collaborate and participate in group decisions and governance.

Established in 1993, DAG provides an invaluable national forum for professional development and networking through which members can exchange ideas with colleagues regarding administrative, institutional, and national policy matters affecting medical education.

Members of DAG serve as administrative/executive assistants to deans in colleges of medicine. DAG’s mission is:

• To establish a national forum for the exchange of information and ideas among the deans’ offices of the schools of medicine.
• To foster interrelationships and discuss programs, policies and procedures, organizational structure, and issues of common interest as determined by the participants.
   

DAG members serve vitally important roles in today’s academic medicine enterprise, from keeping deans up-to-date on common issues facing medical schools to facilitating communications with a variety of internal and external stakeholders. Members of DAG meet twice annually for networking and professional development, in the fall (in conjunction with the AAMC Annual Meeting) and spring. Between meetings, members share information about topics relevant to their daily work and dean’s office operations via an online listserv. 

The Deans’ Assistants Group is not a supported entity of the AAMC. Membership is open to anyone who provides day-to-day assistance to the deans of medical schools of the AAMC.