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  • Press Release

    AAMC Statement on the Nomination of Alex Azar for HHS Secretary

    Stuart Heiser, Senior Media Relations Specialist

    AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) President and CEO Darrell G. Kirch, MD, issued the following statement on the announcement of Alex Azar as nominee for secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS):

    “We congratulate Alex Azar on his nomination as secretary of HHS. In this position, he will oversee many of the federal agencies that play a crucial role in how the nation’s medical schools and teaching hospitals are able to educate and train the next generation of doctors, care for the nation’s most vulnerable and complex patients, and conduct medical research that brings hope to countless Americans.

    Upon his confirmation, we look forward to working with Mr. Azar on improving the health of all through high-quality clinical care, groundbreaking medical research, and a robust, diverse physician workforce.”


    The AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) is a nonprofit association dedicated to improving the health of people everywhere through medical education, health care, medical research, and community collaborations. Its members are all 158 U.S. medical schools accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education; 13 accredited Canadian medical schools; approximately 400 academic health systems and teaching hospitals, including Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers; and more than 70 academic societies. Through these institutions and organizations, the AAMC leads and serves America’s medical schools, academic health systems and teaching hospitals, and the millions of individuals across academic medicine, including more than 193,000 full-time faculty members, 96,000 medical students, 153,000 resident physicians, and 60,000 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in the biomedical sciences. Following a 2022 merger, the Alliance of Academic Health Centers and the Alliance of Academic Health Centers International broadened participation in the AAMC by U.S. and international academic health centers.