Candidate for election at 2025 Annual Meeting: David Savage, MD, PhD

Elections will be held at the Annual Meeting of the House of Delegates on June 10, 2025.

Officers and five councils are elected by the American Medical Association House of Delegates (HOD) at the Annual Meeting. The elections are conducted during a special election session under the supervision of the Committee on Rules and Credentials and the chief teller, who are appointed by the speakers. The speaker and vice speaker are responsible for overall administration of the elections. Voting is conducted by secret ballot.

2025-2029

By electing David Savage, MD, PhD, to the AMA Council on Medical Education (CME), you will be electing someone with a proven track record of shaping AMA’s positions on medical education. Dr. Savage has four years of prior service on the CME representing the Medical Student Section (MSS) and Resident and Fellow Section (RFS). In his final year on the council, he chaired the Graduate Medical Education Subcommittee, where he played a pivotal role in shaping policies affecting resident and fellow physicians. Notably, Dr. Savage helped lead the development of CME Report 05 (I-23), Organizations to Represent the Interests of Resident and Fellow Physicians, which resulted in significant revisions to the Residents and Fellows’ Bill of Rights. These revisions strengthened protections for trainees by encouraging the “formation of peer-led resident/fellow organizations that can advocate for trainees’ interests” and reinforcing their rights and advocacy efforts within the medical profession. In addition to his work on the CME, Dr. Savage served as speaker of both the MSS and RFS, has been a long-time delegate and alternate delegate in the AMA HOD, and currently serves on the CME committee for the New Mexico Medical Society. Dr. Savage has had the opportunity to serve in leadership on the Texas Medical Association's Board of Trustees, the Ohio State Medical Association's Council, and in the California Medical Association's RFS. This deep institutional experience will inform his work on the CME, ensuring he brings valuable insight and leadership to the council. Dr. Savage looks forward to contributing his experience and efforts to the AMA CME, where he will assist with report writing, education stakeholder engagement, and testimony writing to support the important work of the AMA House of Delegates.

Dr. Savage is a physician-scientist who has dedicated the past 15 years to education, research, and mentorship in medical training. His expertise in medical education was demonstrated during his five-year tenure on the national advisory panel for the American Medical Association’s Accelerating Change in Medical Education grant program. Some key accomplishments he’s had in shaping education are: 

1. Serving as a student member of the curriculum redesign committee at the University of Texas McGovern Medical School.
2. Participating in the inaugural Clinician Educator Track of the internal medicine program at the Cleveland Clinic.
3. Serving as chief fellow in hematology/oncology at Scripps in La Jolla, California, where he introduced an internal website to help consolidate learning resources, work schedules, and didactics to improve trainee wellness.
4. Working as clinical faculty at University of New Mexico School of Medicine teaching clinical reasoning and doctoring to first-year students.
5. Working as a physician-scientist mentoring students and residents in oncology research, particularly in his areas of expertise, including chemotherapy resistance in neuroblastoma, skin cancer screening and prevention for Latinx farmworkers, and improving cancer care outcomes. 

At every stage of his career, Dr. Savage has integrated education into his own career in patient care and research. He will bring this perspective of being involved in various aspects of clinical practice and physician-scientist training to CME.

Born and raised in East Texas, Dr. Savage grew up in a small East Texas town outside of Dallas, where his passion for medicine and education took root. He met his wife Elizabeth, a global public health researcher, while they were both in graduate school in Houston, TX. Together, they share a deep commitment to improving healthcare worldwide. In 2024, they welcomed their daughter, Penelope (Penny), and now reside in Albuquerque, NM, in a multigenerational home with Penny’s grandmother. A devoted traveler, Dr. Savage enjoys exploring new cultures—Penny even took her first international trip to Cape Town, South Africa, at just six months old! In his free time, he enjoys hiking, camping, staying engaged in world affairs, and catching up with his close-knit college friends. Dr. Savage is a Distinguished Toastmaster and an active member of Albuquerque Toastmasters, where he hones his communication skills to better serve the medical community.

• Visit the AMA elections page for information on other candidates running for office.
• Find up to date information for the June Annual Meeting of the HOD.