Penn Medicine News: David A. Asch, MD, MBA Receives AAMC Distinguished Teacher Award

PHILADELPHIA — David A. Asch, MD, MBA, the Robert D. Eilers Professor of Medicine and Health Care Management and Economics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Wharton School, was presented with the Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).

The award was presented on Saturday, Nov. 7, during the association’s annual meeting in Boston.

Recognizing Dr. Asch, the AAMC said, “Dr. David Asch combines his passion for education with an appreciation for medicine's lighter side. In addition to the wit and humor he brings to classroom instruction, Dr. Asch's longstanding focus on inter-professional education and collaboration, according to his students, has helped them understand the ‘intricacies of the enigmatic health care system.’"

In his two decades at Penn, Dr. Asch has worked to link the school of medicine with nearly all of the university's 11 other schools, an effort that in 2006 earned him Penn's highest teaching honor, the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching.

Dr. Asch is also executive director of Penn's Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics (LDI). LDI is a formal venture among The University of Pennsylvania’s schools of medicine, business (Wharton), nursing, communication (Annenberg), dental medicine, and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, to improve the health of the public through studies on the medical, economic, social, and ethical issues affecting health care. As executive director, Dr. Asch helped develop a summer undergraduate minority research program that pairs students from under-represented minority groups with Penn faculty to complete research projects. Dr. Asch also co-directs the Robert Wood Johnson Health & Society Scholars Program at the University of Pennsylvania.

The Glaser Awards were established in 1988 to provide national recognition to faculty members who have distinguished themselves in medical student education. The award is named for long-time AOA executive secretary Robert J. Glaser, MD.

Dr. Asch received his AB degree from Harvard University, his MD degree from Weill Cornell Medical College, and his MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Penn Medicine is one of the world’s leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $3.6 billion enterprise.

Penn’s School of Medicine is currently ranked #3 in U.S. News & World Report’s survey of research-oriented medical schools, and is consistently among the nation’s top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $367.2 million awarded in the 2008 fiscal year.

Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2009, Penn Medicine provided $733.5 million to benefit our community.

The Association of American Medical Colleges is a not-for-profit association representing all 131 accredited U.S. and 17 accredited Canadian medical schools; nearly 400 major teaching hospitals and health systems, including 68 Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers; and nearly 90 academic and scientific societies. Through these institutions and organizations, the AAMC represents 128,000 faculty members, 75,000 medical students, and 110,000 resident physicians. Additional information about the AAMC and U.S. medical schools and teaching hospitals is available at www.aamc.org/newsroom.