Geisinger Medical School Bestowed AAMC’s ‘Star Award’

Members News

June 30, 2025

The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) announced that Lisa Holtz, MD, the Geisinger School of Medicine’s regional associate dean for the Northeast, was honored as the recipient of its GRMC Shining Star Award for Educational Innovation.

GRMC is AAMC’s Group on Regional Medical Campuses. Its purpose is to foster professional growth and development, information sharing, communication, and discussion of key issues among administrators, staff, and faculty of regional medical campuses. GRMC recognizes the increasingly important role regional medical campuses serve in preparing tomorrow’s doctors. Dr. Holtz receive the award on June 2 at the GRMC Regional Conference in Kansas City.

GRMC “Star” awards recognize the significant efforts of regional medical campuses to develop programs that help students and strengthen ties with the communities they serve.

Dr. Holtz received the Star of Educational Innovation, awarded to a Regional Medical Campus (RMC) which has achieved a sustainable and measurable educational impact. Of particular interest to the GRMC are innovative education models which:

  • provide value-added experiences to complement the medical curriculum and
  • utilize a research methodology to derive evidence-based standards for documenting benefits and impact.

The award goes to the recipient who has demonstrated consistent positive impact for their program over time and where there may be reproducibility by other campuses.

“I’m proud that Geisinger’s regional campuses have become a model for schools nationwide,” Dr. Holtz said. “The Star award not only recognizes how our regional campuses enhance our Geisinger focus on population health, but it also acknowledges the ways regional campuses add value to the medical student experience. Our medical school has been an innovator in medical education since its founding. It was a true honor to accept this award on behalf of everyone at Geisinger who makes our college such an incredible place to learn.”