Issues
AAMC Action Advocacy Priorities
AAMC Action advocacy focuses on key policy priorities that are integral to the success of the academic medicine community and its efforts to improve the health of people everywhere. These policies have a wide-ranging impact on the nation’s medical schools, teaching hospitals, and their patients. Below, find more information on issues and policies that the AAMC Action community engage with their elected officials and policymakers on, and opportunities to take action.
As the nation faces an impending doctor shortage of between 37,800 and 124,000 physicians by 2034, the AAMC Action community fights to protect and expand graduate medical education (GME) funding, and advocates for bipartisan legislation that would alleviate the physician shortage, diversify the physician workforce, and improve access to care for patients across the country.
AAMC Action advocates for federal policies that help make social systems more equitable, such as standardized, valid, inclusive data collection and policies that contribute to a more diverse and culturally prepared workforce.
Policymakers must invest in the infrastructure needed to prepare for future public health crises, so our health care communities are better able to weather the storm. The most effective preparedness strategy requires ongoing, stable financial support for the nation’s core public health and health care infrastructures, including academic medical centers.
HRSA programs like the National Health Service Corps (NHSC), Health Career Opportunity Program, Centers of Excellence, and Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students not only make careers in medicine more accessible to students nationwide, they also recruit and retain health care providers to practice in underserved communities. The AAMC works to secure support for these programs for the benefit of the health care workers, students, and the patients they serve.
Reliable, sustained growth in medical research funding gives hope to families and patients facing devastating diagnoses and leads to the advances and cures that save lives. AAMC Action works to expand the federal investment in medical research funded through the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
For more information about issues critical to the academic medicine community, visit our advocacy and policy page.