AMA Foundation Leadership Award


The Excellence in Medicine Awards are presented annually by the American Medical Association Foundation to recognize excellence of a select group of physicians and medical students who exemplify the medical profession’s highest values: commitment to service, community involvement, altruism, leadership and dedication to patient care. The AMA Foundation Excellence in Medicine Awards are considered the "Oscars" within the medical community.
The awards are highly covered in the medical news world. They are also recognized widely in traditional media outlets. Past recipients have been from diverse institutions including Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Yale, University of Colorado, UCLA, Georgetown, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, and MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Dr. Debasish Mridha Spirit of Medicine Award

This award recognizes the work of a U.S. physician who demonstrates altruism, compassion, integrity, leadership skills and personal sacrifice while providing excellent health care to a destitute, distressed or marginalized population in an impoverished community.

Dr. Edmond and Rima Cabbabe Dedication to the Profession Award

This award recognizes the work of a physician who demonstrates active and productive improvement to the medical profession.

Pride in the Profession Award

Aiding underserved U. S. Patients
The Pride in the Profession Awards honor caring for people. By practicing medicine in areas of challenge or crisis, or by devoting their time to volunteerism or public service, these physicians serve as the voice of patients in the United States who otherwise might not be heard.

Notable recipients

, MD, MBA, the current US Surgeon General was bestowed with this award at the 2009 awards just two months prior to being nominated by President Obama on July 13, 2009.

Dr. Nathan Davis International Award in Medicine

Improving health care globally
Named for the founder of the AMA, the Dr. Nathan Davis International Award in Medicine recognizes physicians who treat, educate, and counsel patients beyond the U. S. border.

Leadership Awards

Developing leaders in medicine
The Leadership Awards are presented to 10 medical students and 5 early career physicians selected from across the United States to recognize their outstanding leadership in the areas of advocacy, community service and/or education.
The 2015 recipients, in alphabetical order, are:
Mitra Daneshvar; Patrick Davis; Eric Eting, MD MPH; Latha Ganti, MD; Kristy Hawley, MPH; Harrison Hayward; Nikan Khatibi, DO; Jay Kumar; Jillian Wong Millsop, MD MS; Peter Mittwede; Vinod Nambudiri, MD MBA; Christian Pean; Kushyup Shah; Divya Sharma; Christos Theophanous.
The 2016 recipients, in alphabetical order, are: Annalise O. Abiodun, MD, Greater Baltimore Medical Center; Rohit Abraham, Michigan State University College of Medicine; Eric James Chow, MD, Brown University; Anupriya Dayal, Medical College of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; Olatokunbo Famakinwa, MD, Yale-New Haven Hospital; Cherie Fathy, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine; Oswaldo Hasbún Avalos, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons; Leedor Lieberman, Wayne State University School of Medicine; David A. Nissan, MD, New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center; Ravi Bharat Parikh, MD, Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Hunter Pattison, University of Florida College of Medicine; Christa Pulvino, Tulane University School of Medicine; Nikita Saxena, Boston University School of Medicine; Aleesha Shaik, Drexel University College of Medicine; Christiana Shoushtari, University of Illinois-Chicago, College of Medicine
The 2017 awardees are: Hasenin Al-khersan, MD; Hyung Cho, MD; Andrew Lee Chu; Brian Coburn, PhD; Brooke Dugdale; Sara Lyn Orr Dusing, MD; Phillip J. Hsu; Vaidehi Mujumdar; O. Agatha Offojebe; Jennifer Piel, MD, JD; Tyson Charles Schwab MS; Schashank Shekhar Sinha, MD, MSc; Krystal Tomei, MD, MPH; Quentin Riggins Youmans, MD; Alexandria N. Young.
Other notable recipients include Vivek Murthy M.D., Rashid Rashid M.D., Jesse Ehrenfeld M.D., Fatima Cody Stanford M.D., MPH, MPA, Andrew Miller M.D., Anand Reddi, Richard D. Urman M.D., Arturo Loaiza-Bonilla M.D., MSEd, FACP, Andres Deik M.D., MSEd, Shaan Gandhi MD, MBA, and Omar Z. Maniya MD, MBA.

Jack B. McConnell, MD Award for Excellence in Volunteerism

Senior physician volunteerism
The Jack B. McConnell, MD, Award for Excellence in Volunteerism recognizes the work of senior physicians who provide treatment to U. S. patients who lack access to health care. After a full career of practice, these physicians remain active volunteers.