Introduction

The Arnold P. Gold Foundation Humanism in Medicine Award, administered through the Organization of Student Representatives (OSR), annually honors a medical school faculty physician (MD or DO degree) who exemplifies the qualities of a caring and compassionate mentor in the teaching and advising of medical students. The nominee must also possess the desirable personal qualities necessary to the practice of patient-centered medicine by teaching ethics, empathy, respect, and service by example.

The goal of the award is to emphasize, reinforce, and enhance the importance of humanistic qualities among medical school students and faculty. The presence of a caring, compassionate, and collaborative learning environment serves as positive reinforcement to prospective physicians of the desirability of such qualities in the doctor-patient relationship.

Selection Criteria

The criteria employed in the selection of the award recipient will include the assessment of his/her professional and personal skills, personal attributes, and professional and academic activities that provide evidence of the following qualities and characteristics:

• Positive mentoring skills
• Involvement in community service
• Compassion/Sensitivity
• Demonstrates and models the values of diversity, equity and inclusion in their daily work and life
• Collaboration with students and patients

Nominations must provide evidence and documentation of the nominee's embodiment of these qualities and characteristics. Nominations should also include academic, mentoring, advising, and counseling activities as well as specific examples of modeling ethics of the profession in addition to community service that demonstrate the nominee's effectiveness in role modeling the importance of these qualities to students, patients, and faculty.

The Nomination and Selection Process

Each medical school will have the opportunity to nominate one physician faculty member. Nominees must be a physician (MD or DO degree) member of the school's clinical faculty either in a tenure or non-tenure track. The nomination process will be conducted and supervised by the Organization of Student Representatives (OSR) in each medical school. The OSR representative will be responsible for distributing information to students within his/her institution by announcing the nomination process and describing the selection criteria. The OSR representative will appoint an institutional selection committee composed of medical student representatives of each of the four years of medical study. Upon completion of the selection process, the Dean of Student Affairs should be notified about the institution's nominee. The OSR representative will notify the nominee of the award nomination. The award selection committee is comprised of a maximum of six OSR Administrative Board members; AAMC-OSR staff advises the selection committee. The selection committee will meet during the summer to select the national award recipient.

The Calendar

• The deadline for nominations is Tuesday, April 6, 2021, 11:59 pm EST.
• The selection process will be completed by August 2021.
• The award recipient will be notified at the time of selection.
• All nominees for the award will be notified of status prior to the AAMC Annual Meeting.
• The 2021 award recipient will be honored during the Learn Serve Lead 2021: The AAMC Annual Meeting in San Antonio, TX.

The Award

The recipient of the Arnold P. Gold Foundation Humanism in Medicine Award will be honored at an awards dinner held during Learn Serve Lead 2021: The AAMC Annual Meeting and will be invited to speak to the Organization Student Representatives about the importance of humanism in medicine. The award recipient will receive a crystal award piece and a grant of $5,000; $1,000 will be donated to the nominating institution's OSR interest group in support of OSR-related activities related to humanism in medicine.

For more information about the award visit https://www.aamc.org/what-we-do/aamc-awards/humanism.  Questions? Email us at osr@aamc.org.