Profession
AAMC tests system to check criminal backgrounds
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Aug. 13, 2007
The Assn. of American Medical Colleges is piloting a criminal background check system at 10 medical schools this fall. If all goes well, the AAMC plans to expand the program to all of its 125 members in 2009.
Steve Fitzpatrick, program director for the American Medical College Application Service, which centralizes students' applications, said they are aiming to boost public trust in the medical profession, improve patient safety, reduce teaching institutions' liability and ensure that students will be eligible for licenses when they graduate.
During the pilot, AMCAS officials will watch to make sure the process is fair, accurate, and logistically feasible for medical schools. Medical school applicants must give consent to the background check and will have 10 days to review a report before schools see it.
Schools will pay for the check and will respond to students with criminal histories on an individual basis, Fitzpatrick said.
The 10 schools in the pilot are: Boston University School of Medicine; Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta; New Jersey Medical School in Newark, part of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey; Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago; David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles; University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver; University of Mississippi School of Medicine, Jackson; University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, New York; University of Toledo College of Medicine, Ohio; and University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2007/08/13/prbf0813.htm.
