AAMC to honor Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine for community engagement

The meeting brings together top leadership in medical education, research and patient care and is the premier AAMC event. At the meeting, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) will be honored as runner-up for the association’s prestigious Spencer Foreman Award for Outstanding Community Service.

In the first phase of the competition, our community programs, particularly in regard to pipeline and behavioral and mental health, were enough to surpass all other competitors from our nation’s 155 medical schools, except for Rush University Medical College. To choose between the two finalists, AAMC virtual site visitors conducted an exhaustive review this summer.

Although GCSOM was not chosen for the award this year, the judges took the opportunity to reveal particular areas in which they believed the School of Medicine demonstrates uncommon strength:

• Community service is foundational to GCSOM, as seen in our founding and the breadth of our community engagement
• GCSOM focuses on less visible community members – or invisible populations
• GCSOM community engagement is rooted in a detailed, well supported strategic plan
• GCSOM plans are data driven and measured by metrics. In this regard, they were particularly impressed by the program and outcomes of REACH-HEI (Regional Education Academy for Careers in Health – Higher Education Initiative)
• The commitment of executive educational and clinical leadership is clear and significant
• The “marriage” with Geisinger has brought great strength to the school and our community engagement
• GCSOM learners are immersed in community engagement

About Geisinger
Geisinger is committed to making better health easier for the more than 1 million people it serves. Founded more than 100 years ago by Abigail Geisinger, the system now includes 10 hospital campuses, a health plan with more than half a million members, a research institute and the Geisinger College of Health Sciences, which includes schools of medicine, nursing and graduate education. With more than 25,000 employees and 1,700+ employed physicians, Geisinger boosts its hometown economies in Pennsylvania by billions of dollars annually. Learn more at geisinger.org or connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.