AACOM Announces Updates to Strategic Plan, Key Objectives

Osteopathic medical education has seen tremendous growth and change in the last 20 years. Through these transitions, AACOM continues to work with its member colleges, health care associations, and the nation's osteopathic physicians to advance its goals with a constant focus on fostering effective approaches to improve the health of the American public through high-quality medical education.

To that end, AACOM has updated its mission, strategic goals, and associated key objectives in the new AACOM Strategic Plan for 2019-2021, which went into effect January 1, 2019. The new plan is the product of an exhaustive development process which started over a year ago and included several rounds of internal leadership and staff input, feedback from the leaders of the Association’s various stakeholder groups and councils, and final approval from AACOM’s Board of Deans. The goal of the new plan is to enhance and further the Association’s current and future initiatives, programs, and services.

AACOM’s new mission states:

The American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) leads and advocates for the osteopathic medical education community to improve the health of the public.

AACOM represents and advances the continuum of medical education by:

• supporting our member institutions as they educate the future physician workforce;
• increasing awareness of osteopathic medical education and osteopathic medicine;
• promoting excellence in medical education, policy, research, and service; and
• fostering innovation and quality throughout medical education.

The mission was updated from its previous version to reflect changes that have occurred over the past four years by creating more robust and clarified language that better exemplifies the Association’s strategic trajectory. Per the new mission, AACOM will “lead and advocate for the osteopathic medical education community to improve the health of the public” through five strategic goals:

1. Advance osteopathic medical education as an effective solution to improving the nation’s health.
2. Promote osteopathic medical education as a preferred pathway for future physicians to meet the nation’s evolving health care needs.
3. Support excellence, innovation, and a culture of lifelong learning throughout the continuum of medical education.
4. Foster scholarship and research to demonstrate the distinctive value and approach of osteopathic medicine and osteopathic medical education.
5. Build a sustainable, inclusive, and efficient organization that provides value to its members.

The updates to the strategic plan and mission are currently in effect and will guide the organization’s decision-making through 2021. For more information, please see the updated strategic plan on the AACOM website.