Academic Medicine: Where have we been? Where are we going?

The occasion of Academic Medicine's centennial anniversary (2026) provides the opportunity to look back to its history and forward to its future. The journal was founded in the aftermath of the revolution in American medical education of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The events of that era are reviewed to correct the common misperception that little had happened in American medical education before the Flexner report of 1910. The work of Academic Medicine over 100 years is described, with an emphasis on how its focus expanded from the internal mechanics of medical education to include the complex, powerful external forces that affect medical education, research, and practice. In this effort, Academic Medicine has served as the profession's conscience, helping identify core values that must be defended to allow success in any future scenario.