The Association of Academic Health Centers (AAHC) is a non-profit organization that seeks to advance the nation's health and well-being through vigorous leadership of the nation’s academic health centers.
Mission
To improve the nation's health care system by mobilizing and enhancing the strengths and resources of the academic health center enterprise in health professions education, patient care, and research.
An academic health center consists of an allopathic or osteopathic medical school, one or more other health profession schools or programs (such as allied health, dentistry, graduate studies, nursing, pharmacy, public health, veterinary medicine), and one or more owned or affiliated teaching hospitals or health systems. There are more than 100 academic health centers nationwide and they have enormous impact regionally, nationally, and internationally.
Academic health centers have enormous impact. They are essential to the nation’s higher education system as they educate tomorrow’s health care providers and pioneers. These institutions are vital providers of patient care, from basic to advanced, and offer comprehensive as well as cutting-edge treatment. Their large portfolios of research generate new ideas, leading to novel concepts and therapies. Academic health centers also serve as economic engines. Locally, they employ thousands of professionals and staff, and their research creates original products and technologies that benefit millions of people worldwide. Together, their impact is felt in nearly every sector of the global economy. They are also deeply imbedded in their communities, often serving as safety net providers and standing on the country’s frontline of defense in response to public health outbreaks, natural disasters, local crises, and potential terrorist attacks.
As their national organization, the Association of Academic Health Centers seeks to improve the nation's health and well-being by strengthening, advocating, and leading on behalf of its member institutions, which are at the forefront of health professions education, patient care, and biomedical and health services research. This requires vigorous leadership that enhances and mobilizes the intellectual capital, influence, and resources of academic health centers towards the overarching goal of improving health care system.
Core Values
These are the core values that guide the work of the Association of Academic Health Centers:
- Social Responsibility
- Leadership
- Innovation
- Collaboration
- Trust and Integrity
Three Imperatives
The Association of Academic Health Centers has recognized the following imperatives towards achieving its vision and mission:
- Strengthen: We must strengthen the association and increase its capacity to serve its members.
- Advocate: We must position the association as a vital voice regarding the nation's health, science, higher education, and economic infrastructure.
- Lead: We must enhance the role of the association as a national leader on issues concerning the academic health center enterprise and the nation's health and well-being.
My Contributions
A listing of all contributions made to the National Center community.Contents
Community and Commitment
At the 6th Congress of Health Professions Educators, Community and Commitment, participants wrestled with the definition of a community — is it the health sciences building(s), the university campus, the neighborhood beyond the walls, or (through electronic connections and...
Solving the Workforce Crisis: Lessons from Clinical Practice and the Corporate World
The 8th Congress of Health Professions Educators reflected the concerns of the public, associations, and health care institutions across the nation with health professions shortages and the resulting impact on the...
Interdisciplinary Education as a Prelude to Interdisciplinary Practice (or Vice Versa)
The Fourth Congress of Health Professions Educators, held in June 1997, marked the first program developed and held under the auspices of the new Center for Interdisciplinary, Community-Based Learning (CICL). In...
Faculty Shortages Across the Health Professions: Implications for Teaching and Workforce
In recent years, health professions educators and administrators have increasingly witnessed and have thus begun attempting to address faculty shortages across the spectrum of health professions, perhaps most...
Making the Team Work
These proceedings present a broad overview of the environment for health professions education and how it is changing in response to health care reform, the rise of managed care, the growth in size and diversity of the care delivery team, the changing health care needs of the...