Terms and Conditions
What’s New in the Updated Terms of Use
AAMC revised these Terms. Some of the key changes are outlined below, but please take time to read the full Terms.
Update made May 1, 2026
- Added Binding Arbitration and Class Action Waiver clauses
Welcome to the AAMC website and any information, data, or content contained therein (“the AAMC website,” “our site” or “this site”), a website owned and operated by the Association of American Medical Colleges (“AAMC,” “we” or “us”). The AAMC website includes www.aamc.org, services.aamc.org, www.students-residents.aamc.org, www.medbiq.org and any other AAMC webpages or services (e.g., MCAT, ERAS, AMCAS) that link back to these terms of use (“Terms”).
Please read the following Terms carefully before using this website. By accessing this site in any way, including without limitation, browsing this site, using any information, making a purchase, and/or submitting information to AAMC, you agree to and are bound by these Terms, including but not limited to disclaimer of warranties, binding arbitration, and class action waiver.
- Acceptance of Terms of Use
- Permitted Use and Access
- No Warranty and Limitation of Liability
- Choice of Law, Choice of Forum, and Severability
- Trademarks
- Copyright
- Improvements and Content Suggestions
- AAMC Ethics Hotline
- Sales and Sales Tax
- Binding Arbitration of Disputes and Class Action Waiver
- General
Acceptance of Terms of Use
These Terms govern your use of the AAMC website, and by visiting or using our site you indicate that you agree to and accept all of the Terms set forth below. If you do not accept these Terms, you may not access this site or use any of the services provided through this site.
By using our site, you also indicate your understanding that AAMC may revise these Terms from time to time without providing notice to you. Your continued use of this site after we have revised the Terms will indicate that you accept them as revised. We recommend that you review these Terms regularly.
Additional Terms
You may be asked to indicate your acceptance to these Terms when registering for an AAMC Account or when using certain services. If you choose to use any of the services provided through this site, you may be asked to electronically agree to the terms customized to those services. In the event a specific service’s terms and conditions are in conflict with these Terms, the terms and conditions of the specific service will take precedence.
Personal Information
Personal information submitted through the AAMC website is subject to the AAMC Privacy Statement, as it may be amended from time to time, which is incorporated into these Terms by reference.
Permitted Use and Access
The AAMC grants you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferrable, limited privilege to access our site. Unauthorized access to the site includes, but is not limited to: accessing any part of the site, services, content, data, or information you do not have permission or authorization to access or for which AAMC has revoked your access; overriding any security feature or bypass or circumvent any access controls or use limits employed to prevent or limit access to any area of the site or server; access content or data not intended for you or logging into a server or account which you are not authorized to access; hacking, password mining, application of scripts or other electronic mechanisms; or using any other illegitimate means. Your access to the site is governed by all applicable laws.
Further, you may not engage in any activities that could damage, disable, or impair any AAMC server; take action that imposes an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our network or infrastructure; collect content or information or otherwise mirror or access our site using automated means (such as harvesting bots, robots, spiders, or scrapers); or modify, copy, distribute, or make any attempt to discover the source code, algorithms, or processes of this site.
Your Security Obligations Regarding Your Account and Use of This Site
If you register with our site, you agree to provide us with current, complete and accurate information as requested by the applicable registration form. You are entirely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account and are wholly responsible for any and all activities that occur under your account. You agree to notify AAMC immediately of any unauthorized use of your account or any other breach of security involving your account. AAMC will not be liable for any loss that you may incur as result of someone else using your password or account, either with or without your knowledge. You, however, may be held liable for any losses incurred by AAMC or another party due to misuse of your account or password.
Suspension or Termination of Access
You understand that AAMC reserves the right to suspend or terminate accounts and to block access to this site by any user who violates—or who AAMC in its sole discretion believes may have violated—these Terms. You understand that access may be suspended or terminated with or without notice.
Age Requirement
The AAMC website is not directed at individuals under 13 years of age. If you are 13 years of age or older and considered a minor under applicable law, you may use this site only with the involvement of a parent or guardian.
No Warranty and Limitation of Liability
This site is provided to you on an “as is”, “as available” basis. AAMC (inclusive of its officers, directors, employees, agents, representatives, or affiliates), to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, disclaims all warranties of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to, representations and warranties regarding accuracy, timeliness, completeness, reliability, security, noninfringement, course of dealing, course of performance, usage of trade, merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. You expressly agree that your use of this site is at your sole risk.
Further, AAMC makes no representations or warranties that your use of this site will be uninterrupted or free from errors, omissions, delay, defects, or harmful components. The AAMC is not obligated to correct or update the AAMC website or AAMC content, and the AAMC will not be liable for omission, typographical errors, or out-of-date information that may appear on the website.
In no event shall AAMC be liable to you for any claim whatsoever arising out of or relating to your use of, your inability to use, your dissatisfaction with, or the delay or failure of the site, including but not limited to, any special, indirect, consequential damages, or any damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data, or profits, whether in an action for breach of contract, negligence or other tortious action, arising out of, or in connection with, the use or performance of this site.
No Medical Advice
The AAMC website is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice or as a substitute for the advice, diagnosis, or treatment provided by a qualified medical professional.
Links to Third Party Sites
AAMC may provide links to other websites that are not owned or controlled by AAMC. AAMC is not responsible for the contents or operation of any linked site. The inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by AAMC of the sponsor or content of the linked website.
Choice of Law, Choice of Forum, and Severability
To the extent permitted by law, you agree that these Terms will be governed by the laws of the District of Columbia, without regard to its conflicts of law rules, except that the Federal Arbitration Act will govern the interpretation and enforcement of the arbitration agreement to the maximum extent permitted by law. Any litigation regarding compliance with these Terms or your use of our sites will be brought in the courts of the District of Columbia.
If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid, illegal, or for any reason unenforceable then that provision shall not affect the enforceability of any remaining provisions. Rather, the invalid, illegal, or unenforceable provision shall be modified to the extent necessary so that it is valid, legal, and enforceable.
Trademarks
AAMC owns all rights to our trademarks – including, but not limited to, AAMC, Association of American Medical Colleges, Academic Medicine, AMCAS, American Medical College Application Service, Aspiring Doctors, Careers in Medicine, Convey, ERAS, Electronic Residency Application Service, MCAT, Medical College Admission Test, MedBiquitous, MedEdPORTAL, MSAR, Visiting Student Learning Opportunities, VSAS, and VSLO – and related logos used in connection with our association and services. AAMC logos may not be used without prior written permission of the AAMC.
All other logos and trademarks appearing on the site are the property of their respective owners.
Copyright
Any rights not expressly granted herein are reserved by AAMC.
Permission Grant
Unless otherwise indicated on the specific webpage or AAMC material, the AAMC grants permission to reproduce and distribute the AAMC website material, for the following purposes:
- Educational and non-commercial use;
- Scholarly works, such as textbooks, journal articles, research papers, dissertations, course syllabi;
- Presentations, such as professional conferences, professional development trainings; or
- AAMC member institutions use of AAMC material made available free of charge.
Such permission is granted, provided that:
- The copyright and permission notices appear in all reproductions;
- No documents or related images available from this site are modified in any way; and
- No graphic images or data tables available from this site are used, copied or distributed separate from accompanying text.
Requesting Permission to Reproduce AAMC Material
If you require formal, written permission contact the AAMC department who developed the material directly. If you are unsure which AAMC department to contact, please complete the Permission to Reproduce AAMC Material Form.
Permission requests for Academic Medicine are managed by the publisher (and not AAMC).
Contact ip@aamc.org with questions or problems related to permission requests.
Suspected Copyright Infringement
If you believe that your rights under copyright law are being infringed by the uploading, posting, display or other distribution of your copyrighted content to our site, please submit a notice of alleged copyright infringement with the following information:
- A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner;
- Identification of the copyrighted work or work(s) you claim have been infringed;
- Description of where the material or activity you claim to be infringing is located (url) or is occurring (description of the location of the material);
- Contact information, reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact you;
- A statement made in good faith that the use of the work(s) in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
- A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information provided in the notification is accurate and that you are either the copyright owner or are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner.
Your notice to us must be sent to:
Association of American Medical Colleges
Attn: Legal Dept – DMCA
655 K Street, NW, Suite 100
Washington, DC 20001-2399
Fax: 202-481-7786
ip@aamc.org
Open Source Code
The AAMC website may incorporate certain independent code that is licensed under open source licenses (“Open Source Code”). To the extent you are granted permission to access and use specific content on this site, any incorporated Open Source Code incorporated therein is licensed to you in accordance with the applicable open source licenses. To the extent that these Terms conflict with any of those open source licenses, the conflicting terms and conditions will not apply to the corresponding Open Source Code.
MedBiquitous Standards
The MedBiquitous® Standards (including schemas, specifications, guidelines, sample documents, sample code, Web services description files, and related items) are provided by the copyright holders under the Medbiquitous Standards Public License and Terms of Use (available at https://www.medbiq.org/license).
Improvements and Content Suggestions
You may provide suggestions, data or other information to the AAMC regarding possible improvements in the operation, functionality, or use of the content and services provided. You hereby assign to AAMC any and all right, title, and interest to any such possible improvements. Further, you understand and agree that AAMC has no obligation to implement such possible improvements.
You understand and agree that any material submissions you make to the AAMC directly or shared via AAMC social media or official AAMC hashtag, including but not limited to, text, images, videos, audio are governed by the AAMC Submission Agreement.
AAMC Ethics Hotline
The AAMC is committed to conducting its business in an ethical and legal manner. AAMC employees are bound to comply with the AAMC’s ethical conduct policy, including complying with all laws, disclosing any conflict of interest, and otherwise acting in a manner that places the AAMC’s interests above any personal interest. If you would like to make a report regarding possible unethical behavior of an AAMC employee, you may contact the AAMC’s third-party Ethics Hotline at 855-729-0137 or online at www.aamc.ethicspoint.com. A report may be made on an anonymous basis. All reports are treated confidentially. The AAMC is committed to non-retaliation against any individual who makes a report.
Sales and Sales Tax
All transactions are processed in US Dollars. Applicable sales tax may be added to your transaction with AAMC. For additional information please review the U.S. Sales Tax Frequently Asked Questions and Canadian Sales Tax Frequently Asked Questions.
Binding Arbitration of Disputes and Class Action Waiver
Binding Arbitration of Disputes
To the extent permitted by law, you agree that any dispute, claim or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms and the products, services, and offerings of the AAMC or the applicability, breach, termination, validity, enforcement or interpretation thereof (collectively, “Disputes”) will be settled by binding individual arbitration on an individual basis (the “Arbitration Agreement”) except as set forth below.
This Arbitration Agreement shall be administered by the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) under the AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules, supplemented by the AAA Mass Arbitration Supplementary Rules as applicable, in effect at the time a request for arbitration is filed with the AAA. Copies of the AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules and the AAA Mass Arbitration Supplementary Rules are located at adr.org.
The parties agree that the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) 9 U.S.C. § 1 et seq. governs this section to the fullest extent permitted by law. When the FAA does not apply, the law of the District of Columbia will apply.
Reduced Scope and Exceptions to Arbitration Agreement
Specific AAMC products, services, and offerings may limit the scope of the issue for arbitration.
Claims to enforce intellectual property rights are excluded from the Arbitration Agreement and may be brought in any court of competent jurisdiction at the complainant’s election. The complainant may also elect to join any and all claims arising from a common nucleus of facts to their intellectual property enforcement suit against the respondent.
No arbitration may be maintained as a class or collective action; a party may bring a claim only on their own behalf and seek individual relief only. Unless all parties agree otherwise, the arbitrator will not have the authority to consolidate the claims of more than one individual, conduct any class or collective proceeding, make any class or collective award, or make an award to any person or entity not a party to the arbitration.
Pre-Dispute Notice
The party (the “complainant”) agrees to send the other party (the “respondent”) an individualized notice of the dispute in writing (“Pre-Dispute Notice”) to arbitration@aamc.org. AAMC will send its notice to your email address and/or physical address as reflected in AAMC’s records. A Pre-Dispute Notice must include: the date, your name, mailing address, email address, your signature, a brief description of the dispute, relevant documents, the specific relief sought, signature by counsel to the party is not sufficient). The parties shall attempt to resolve the dispute through informal, good-faith negotiation. If the parties have not resolved the dispute within sixty (60) days of AAMC’s receipt of the written notice of dispute, the parties will mutually schedule a settlement conference which must occur within fourteen (14) days of the completion of the sixty (60) day period, unless otherwise mutually agreed by the parties. If it is logistically infeasible to schedule the settlement conference within 14 days of the completion of the sixty (60) day period, then the parties will work in good faith to schedule the settlement conference as expeditiously as reasonably possible. Each party must personally appear at the settlement conference (if a party is represented by counsel, their counsel may also participate), and appearances may be made telephonically or by video. Each settlement conference will involve only one complainant; multiple complainants cannot appear at the same settlement conference. If the parties are unable to resolve the dispute at the settlement conference, the complainant may commence arbitration by filing a written demand for arbitration. The statute of limitations on claims relating to the dispute described in the Pre-Dispute Notice will be tolled from the beginning of the 60-day period until 7 days after the settlement conference. The Pre-Dispute Notice and participation in the settlement conference requirements are a condition precedent to any arbitration, and evidence of each must be attached to any arbitration demand.
Arbitration
If the dispute proceeds to arbitration, the complainant must personally attend all hearings and mediations scheduled by the AAA or by an arbitrator or mediator appointed by the AAA. If the complainant is represented by counsel, the complainant’s counsel may also participate, and all participation may be made telephonically or by video except as directed by the arbitrator or mediator. If a complainant fails to personally appear at any hearing or mediation scheduled by the AAA or by an AAA arbitrator or mediator, regardless of whether the complainant’s counsel attends, the arbitrator will administratively close the arbitration proceeding without prejudice, unless the complainant shows good cause as to why the complainant was not able to attend the hearing or mediation.
This arbitration will be conducted as a documents-only arbitration (i.e., there will be no in-person or telephonic hearing) unless otherwise agreed by the parties or required by the arbitrator. If the parties agree to or the arbitrator requires proceedings, such proceedings should be conducted at a location that is reasonably convenient for both parties with due consideration of their ability to travel and other pertinent circumstances. If the parties are unable to agree on a location, the parties agree that the proceedings will be conducted via a video or telephonic call or, in the event that face-to-face proceedings are agreed to by the parties or required by the arbitrator, at a location that is reasonably convenient to both parties in accordance with the AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules. An arbitrator's rulings will not be binding in proceedings involving different individuals. The existence and content of the arbitration proceedings, including documents and briefs submitted by the parties; any correspondence from the AAA; and correspondence, orders, and awards issued by the arbitrator, will remain strictly confidential and may not be disclosed to any third party without the express written consent from the other party, unless disclosure to the third party is reasonably required in the context of conducting the arbitration proceedings or related court proceedings.
The arbitrator determines which party is responsible for the American Arbitration Association’s case management fees and arbitrator’s fee. All other costs associated with arbitration (for example attorney’s fees) are borne by the party incurring them. The judgment on the award rendered by the arbitrator may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof.
Mass Arbitration
For disputes meeting the definition of “Mass Arbitration” under the AAA Mass Arbitration Supplementary Rules, the parties agree that the dispute is subject to the AAA’s Mass Arbitration Supplementary Rules and the parties agree to the appointment of a Process Arbitrator, except as may otherwise be decided by the arbitrator or the AAA.
Class Action Waiver
YOU AGREE THAT, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, ANY AND ALL DISPUTES, CLAIMS, AND CAUSES OF ACTION ARISING OUT OF OR CONNECTED WITH THESE TERMS AND THE PRODUCTS, SERVICES, AND OFFERINGS OF THE AAMC, WILL BE RESOLVED INDIVIDUALLY ON YOUR OWN BEHALF, WITHOUT RESORT TO ANY FORM OF CLASS ACTION, PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING OR MASS ACTION. YOU FURTHER AGREE TO WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL. DO NOT USE THIS SITE IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE FOREGOING PROVISIONS.
General
We reserve the right to change the content on this site and to suspend or deny access to this site for maintenance or modifications. Any rights not expressly granted to you herein are reserved to the AAMC.
You may not assign your rights under this Terms, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of the AAMC.
Any failure to enforce or delay in enforcing any part of these Terms will not constitute a waiver of our rights under these Terms or law. Except as otherwise noted above, these Terms constitute the entire agreement and supersede any prior agreement or communications between you and us regarding the AAMC website. If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact us at ip@aamc.org.