Privacy Statement
Last Updated August 10, 2023
Our Commitment to Privacy
We recognize that users of this website, AAMC programs and services, and surveys may have questions about how and why this information is collected. This Privacy Statement explains what kinds of information we collect through our website, web-based applications, and other AAMC programs, and how we use this information.
The AAMC recognizes its responsibility to treat with care the information it collects about individuals and to respect their privacy relative to personal information concerning them. The AAMC has put in place internal policies and practices to support the promises made in this Privacy Statement and enforces those policies with its employees, contractors, and service providers.
Your use of the AAMC website and participation in AAMC applications, activities, and surveys signifies your understanding of this Privacy Statement and your acknowledgement of the collection, use, and storage of, and your rights with regard to, your personal information, as described below.
What Information We Collect and How We Use It
Personal Information
We collect certain personal information to provide and develop AAMC services and programs, to engage in research for specific, defined purposes, and to share as explained in Data Sharing with Third Parties. Such personal information may include names, identification numbers, contact information, academic records, institutional affiliation, and other biographical information.
When you agree to use an AAMC service, including but not limited to AMCAS®, Careers in Medicine®, Convey®, ERAS®, FindAResident®, MedEdPORTAL®, MCAT®, PREview® and VSLO®, you form an agreement with the AAMC for the processing of your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Statement and the applicant agreement, discloser agreement, examinee agreement, or other terms of use presented to you when you agree to use the service.
If you make a material submission to the AAMC via email or social media, you understand and agree that the terms of the AAMC Submission Agreement apply to your submission and any personal information contained in the material shared with or submitted to the AAMC.
Based on your consent, AAMC surveys, such as the Graduation Questionnaire (GQ), the Matriculating Student Questionnaire (MSQ), and the Post-MCAT Questionnaire (PMQ), and the Student Records System (SRS), collect data for educational and research purposes, including reporting to AAMC constituents, providing summary information to Congress and other policymakers, and assisting members with institutional management issues. Additionally, the consent for SRS includes processing for accreditation purposes, data services, outcomes studies, program evaluations, research projects, and other data activities in support of the medical education community. From time to time, the AAMC may contact you or your institution to participate in such a survey. You consent to use of your personal information as described in the consent notice for the applicable survey and in this Privacy Statement.
The AAMC may process your personal information, including credit card and website usage information, for its legitimate interests, including but not limited to data collection from third parties (such as GME Track® and FAMOUS®) for the purposes described above for surveys, constituent engagement and member management purposes, meeting registration, association initiatives, and to inform you, based on your personal information held by the AAMC, about AAMC programs, products, grassroots lobbying efforts, or services that may be of interest to you. The AAMC reserves the right to use personal information in its possession to investigate inappropriate or unauthorized use of AAMC services or assets or apparent threats to public safety.
Whenever the AAMC conducts human subjects research using your personal information, that research is reviewed by an external (to the AAMC) institutional review board to ensure protection of your interests. Your personal information may be used to pre-populate application forms for you when you apply or register for services or other programs to save you time and effort. To reduce redundancies and facilitate the accuracy of data, you agree, consent, or acknowledge, as applicable, that the AAMC may process your personal information in internal AAMC databases across systems and to pre-populate web applications for you. The AAMC may use your personal information to improve and develop the services and programs it provides to you, other users, and the academic medical community, including through market research.
The AAMC may obtain information about you directly through your use of and participation in AAMC services, programs, and activities, whether through web applications, communications in any form, or personal interactions, with the AAMC. The AAMC may also obtain information about you from third parties based on your agreement, your consent, or the AAMC’s legitimate interests. AAMC obtains contact details and other personal information regarding media contacts and influencers from a variety of sources including Cision. Any personal information obtained from third parties will be treated in accordance with this Privacy Statement as if provided by you directly. If you do not provide requested personal information to the AAMC, the AAMC may not be able to offer its products and services to you. The AAMC takes reasonable steps to ensure the quality of personal information collected and maintained by the AAMC, including requiring data collections to be internally registered, conducting software quality assurance testing, and maintaining stewards for designated AAMC data assets.
Credit Card Information
Once your credit card information, including the CVV number, has been passed to the credit card processing company for verification, only partial information is retained by AAMC for future identification of the transaction. This partial information includes several digits (but not all) of your credit card number, the expiration date, and your billing address when available. We never retain the CVV number. Your credit card information is kept within a secure database with limited access. Alternatively, your payment to the AAMC may be processed by a third party service provider under an agreement with the AAMC.
Web Site Usage Information
Email addresses, information about which pages users access and actions taken by users while interacting with the site, and information volunteered by site users—such as user survey responses and site registrations—are used to improve the content and user experience of the AAMC website. The AAMC uses Google Analytics to collect and analyze website user data.
Some portions of our site use cookies to improve your experience. For example, cookies allow you to shop on our site and browse to other areas without losing the contents of your shopping cart. We also use cookies to help us learn more about site traffic patterns. You can set your browser to notify you when you receive a cookie, giving you a chance to decide whether or not to accept it.
Data Sharing with Third Parties
Any information published by the AAMC that is related to medical school or residency applications, MCAT testing, career choice, or similar surveyed topics is done so with aggregate statistics. The AAMC may, in its sole discretion, also share personal information with peer medical education organizations, certifying boards, licensing bodies, and other not-for-profit organizations involved in medical education (i) to conduct research for specific, defined purposes; (ii) to verify an individual’s eligibility for a service or membership that the individual has sought; (iii) to ensure that credentials are attributed to the proper person; and (iv) to support other purposes that advance medical education. The AAMC, and the third parties with whom it shares personal information, may charge reasonable fees when providing the data to other parties as permitted herein. Personal information is also shared with third parties for scholarship opportunities and as directed by you in the course of your registration or use of an AAMC service or program. If you attend an AAMC meeting, the AAMC may share your contact information with exhibitors. We may also share contact information for staff and faculty at AAMC-member institutions and with our publishing partners. We will enter into data sharing agreements, containing appropriate restrictions on use and handling of the data, with third parties with whom we share your personal information. Unless restricted in the data sharing agreement or as otherwise noted in this Privacy Statement, once your personal information has been transferred to a third party, the information is subject to that party’s policies.
If you provide personal information to us via the AAMC website, we may share it with service providers who assist us in activities such as technology, administration, or communications management. These providers are not authorized to use or disclose the information except as necessary to perform services on our behalf or to comply with legal requirements. We might also share personal information if we were to sell or transfer all or a portion of our operations or assets, in which case we would contractually require the recipient to treat the information in accordance with this Privacy Statement.
The AAMC reserves the right to use or disclose information where we reasonably believe it is needed to (i) respond to information requests by law enforcement or other governmental authorities; (ii) comply with any law, regulation, subpoena or other legal process, or court order; (iii) investigate and help prevent security threats, fraud, malicious activity, or unauthorized or illegal activity involving the services or networks of the AAMC or its members; or (iv) enforce or protect AAMC’s rights and property. In such circumstances, personal information may be disclosed without notice to the individual.
Security of Collected Data
To prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and to help ensure the correct use of collected information, we have put in place appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online. Access to collected data is restricted to only those AAMC staff members who require the access for specific purposes, such as providing services to you or performing research.
Messages that you send to us by email may not be secure. We recommend that you do not send any confidential information to us by email. If you choose to send confidential information to us via e-mail, you accept the risk that a third party may intercept this information.
Location of Data
The AAMC is headquartered in the United States, and our services are hosted in and managed in the United States. If you are a user located outside the United States, you understand and acknowledge to having your personal information (which may include information collected through the use of cookies and other technologies, as described above) transferred, processed, and stored in the United States or in any other country in which we engage service providers or to which you direct us to transfer your personal information.
Data Retention and Disposal
The AAMC retains personal information only as long as needed to fulfill the purpose for which the personal information was collected unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. The AAMC uses secure disposal methods when deleting or destroying sensitive personal information.
Third Party Sites
This site may include links to other websites that are not owned or controlled by AAMC, and AAMC is not responsible for the contents of any linked site, the conduct of the operator of any linked site, or any changes or updates to such sites. AAMC may provide links to you only as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by AAMC of the website. This Privacy Statement does not apply to your interactions with third-party websites, even if you find a link to them or access them through our website, and you should read the privacy policy of the third party provider to see how your personal information will be treated on its site.
Your Rights Regarding Your Personal Information
The AAMC understands that you may wish to exercise certain rights available to you regarding your personal information held by the AAMC. To access, review, correct, update, suppress, delete, withdraw consent, or otherwise limit our use of personal information you have provided to us, or to invoke any other rights regarding your personal information you may have under applicable law, you may (1) view, copy, download, or request the information in the relevant AAMC webpage or web-based application, (2) contact the relevant AAMC service (Contact Us), or (3) contact the AAMC Privacy Program at privacy@aamc.org or the mailing address listed below. We will make reasonable attempts to comply with such requests where applicable, but may deny, in whole or in part, requests where we are otherwise legally required or permitted to retain the data, or the requests are unreasonably repetitive, require disproportionate technical effort, risk the privacy of others, or are impractical. If your request is denied, in whole or in part, we will notify you in writing as to why your request was denied.
To protect your privacy and security, we will take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting access or taking action following such a request. You have the right to make a complaint with a supervisory authority competent for your country or region.
To manage your email preferences, you may use the link(s) at the bottom of the relevant email or you may contact Member Services and request to be removed from the email list. If you are receiving emails based on your participation in an AAMC committee, board, initiative, or professional group, Member Services will review your request. Some email communications are mandatory for participation in AAMC groups.
How to Contact Us About This Policy
Should you have any questions, comments, requests, or concerns related to this privacy notice, please contact the AAMC at privacy@aamc.org or at:
AAMC
Attn: Legal Services – Privacy Program
655 K Street, NW, Suite 100
Washington, DC, 20001-2399
Changes to This Privacy Notice
Any changes to this Privacy Statement will be posted on this website. Reviewing this page periodically or before you provide us with additional personal information is recommended.
Links to Specific Program Data Collection Information
Certain AAMC services and surveys provide additional detailed information regarding collection and use of your data. Please follow the links below to learn more about how the specific program may use your data, why they collect your data, and which data are collected. While this Privacy Statement and policies below apply to the treatment of your personal information, in the event there is a difference in the two policies, any more specific terms in the Additional Information policy will control.