In fulfilling its mission, AMS has developed collaborative relationships with private philanthropy, state agencies and other relevant organizations. Specifically, AMS develops and implements projects on behalf of the medical schools, carries on public education activities through distribution of position papers, organizes conferences and strives to play a constructive role in health policy making in the State by making available to legislators and policy makers the expertise that resides in the schools. An example of AMS programming is the statewide effort to increase enrollment of underrepresented minorities and the economically disadvantaged in New York medical schools. AMS has produced position papers on minorities in medicine, responsibility for the care of AIDS patients, AIDS testing and confidentiality, the use of animals in research and the role of the schools in meeting the health needs of the State. Other current issues on the AMS agenda include improving medical care at the end of life, support of research and maintaining high qualify education in the changing environment of medicine.
Medical education is a multi-billion dollar industry in New York.
The State's medical schools currently enroll approximately 8,000 medical students. In recent years, the New York medical schools have brought in to the State nearly a billion dollars annually in Federal research grants.