AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) President and CEO Darrell G. Kirch, MD, issued the following statement on the passing of Arnold Gold, MD, world-renowned pediatric neurologist and founder of The Arnold P. Gold Foundation. Gold, 92, died on Jan. 23 at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital after a brief illness.
“The passing of Dr. Arnold Gold is a tremendous loss for the AAMC, the academic medicine community, and the countless lives he touched—from his patients and their families to his students, residents, and colleagues. A passionate and tireless advocate for promoting humanism in medicine, Arnold, along with his wife, Sandra Gold, EdD, established The Arnold P. Gold Foundation in 1988. The foundation’s work has had a profound effect on the way the nation’s medical schools and teaching hospitals teach and practice medicine. Arnold’s vision to nurture and preserve the tradition of the caring physician carries through to nearly every medical student who participates in the White Coat Ceremony, which the Gold Foundation established as a rite of passage for medical students as they enter the profession and take an oath to protect and care for their patients. As we mourn his passing, we remain fiercely committed—now more than ever—to preserving his legacy and advancing his work to promote humanism in medicine.”
The AAMC and The Arnold P. Gold Foundation have had a long-standing partnership and commitment to training caring and compassionate physicians. Since 2009, the AAMC has recognized a medical school faculty physician who exemplifies the qualities of a caring and compassionate mentor in the teaching and advising of medical students with The Arnold P. Gold Foundation Humanism in Medicine Award.
The Association of American Medical Colleges is a not-for-profit association dedicated to transforming health care through innovative medical education, cutting-edge patient care, and groundbreaking medical research. Its members are all 154 accredited U.S. and 17 accredited Canadian medical schools; nearly 400 major teaching hospitals and health systems, including 51 Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers; and more than 80 academic societies. Through these institutions and organizations, the AAMC serves the leaders of America’s medical schools and teaching hospitals and their more than 173,000 full-time faculty members, 89,000 medical students, 129,000 resident physicians, and more than 60,000 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in the biomedical sciences.