The Association of American Medical Colleges said it has created two new entities as part of its strategic plan to address inequities in medical education, healthcare and research.
The plan, announced Oct. 27, creates the AAMC Research and Action Institute, led by Atul Grover, MD, PhD, as well as the AAMC Center for Health Justice, led by Philip Alberti, PhD, and co-led by Malika Fair, MD.
The institute will raise the association's role in policy research and analysis, and the center will boost association efforts to address health inequities and advance health justice through community collaborations, the AAMC said.
"I am so proud of the academic medicine community and the way you have responded to the novel coronavirus pandemic and defined the front lines of the response. You have truly shown the nation and the world our very best," president and CEO David Skorton, MD, said in a message to association members, according to a news release. "And yet, as heroic and exceptional as the response has been, the pandemic also exposed the fault lines in our healthcare system — tremendous health inequities and disparities, too many people who still lack access to healthcare, and the continuing epidemic of mental health challenges, to name but a few. Fundamentally, for too many, our nation's approach to health is broken. More than ever before, it is clear we must do better."
In addition to creating the two new entities, AAMC's plan also focuses on evolving medical education in the U.S., as well as supporting medical students; improving inclusivity and equity in medical schools, teaching hospitals and health systems; increasing the number of diverse medical students and matriculants; and strengthening U.S. commitment to medical research and medical research workers, the association said. Other goals cited by the association are improving healthcare access; "enhancing the skills and capacity of the people of academic medicine"; and helping the association adapt to the changing healthcare environment
To learn more about the association's new plan, click here.
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