The Portes Foundation and the Institute of Medicine of Chicago are proud to honor Dr. Alejandro Aparicio with the 2025 Portes Foundation Meritorious Lifetime Achievement Award.
Dr. Aparicio recently retired from our board as well as from his full time position with the American Medical Association (AMA). He has been licensed as a practicing physician in the State of Illinois since 1984 and has served in numerous leadership positions at both local and national levels for nearly 40 years. His contributions range from his service in the United States Army Reserve to health care delivery, teaching medical professionals, leading professional organizations, and serving as the Director of Medical Education Programs for the AMA.
Dr. Aparicio was born in Cuba in the 1950s and migrated to the United States as a teen. He became a United States citizen and attended the University of Florida where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry. While an undergraduate student, he was the recipient of the Sidney M. Jourard Outstanding Leadership Award and served as President of the National Honor Society. He earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from Univeridad Central del Este in the Dominican Republic and completed his residency at Ravenswood Hospital Medical Center in Chicago. He was named the Outstanding Resident of the Year in 1985 and served as Chief Resident in Internal Medicine the following year. Dr. Aparicio served in the United States Army Reserve upon completing his residency and was honorably discharged at the rank of Major.
From 1985 through 2004, Dr. Aparicio served in a number of roles with Advocate Health facilities in Chicago. In addition to his practice in General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics at the Advocate Health Center at Irving and Western, he served as the Assistant Program Director for Internal Medicine and the Director of Medical Education at Advocate Ravenswood Hospital Medical Center. At Ravenswood, he accepted leadership roles on a number of committees and served as Chairman of the Medical Education Committee, the Library and Medical Resources Center, the Curriculum Subcommittee, the Medical Records Quality Improvement Team, the Collaborative Care Committee, and the Medical Staff Nominating Committee. He founded and served as editor of “The Ravenswood Hospital Forum”, a publication of the Department of Medical Education.
From November 2000 to August 2004, Dr. Aparicio served as the Associate Medical Director and Director of Medical Education at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago where he also served on numerous committees with varied focuses on such topics as ethics and risk management.
Dr. Aparicio also took on system‐wide leadership roles with the Advocate Health Care system. He served on the Board of Directors from 2004 to 2012 and chaired the Continuing Medical Education Committee, serving on a number of other committees such as the Research and Medical Education Task Force and was the Associate Editor of the Journal of Advocate Health Care.
In addition to his work with Advocate, Dr. Aparicio served as Medical Director and Vice President for Medical Affairs at Ballard Health Care Residence and Ballard Health Care Residence in Des Plaines, Illinois over the period from 1996 to 2004. He also served on the Board of Governors for Advocate Kutsch College of Nursing from 1997 through 2003.
In September of 2004, he took on the role of Director of Continuing Physician Professional Development with the American Medical Association (AMA) where he was responsible for overseeing Continuing Professional Development programs around the United States that directly impact the efforts of thousands of practitioners to promote health and prevent disease.
In 2014, he became the Director of Medical Education Programs at the AMA, thus expanding his role and influence in the field. During his career, Dr. Aparicio has contributed his expertise to research in the field of disease prevention and health professions education as well. He held appointments at the University of Illinois College of Medicine from 1985 through 2023, most recently as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical Education. During this time, he served on numerous committees at the university such as the College Committee on Continuing Medical Education, the Graduate Medical Education Consortium Committee, the Essentials of Clinical Medicine Subcommittee, and served as the Co‐chair of the M3/M4 Subcommittee.
In an effort to support the dissemination of research on health promotion and disease prevention, Dr. Aparicio has been a member of the editorial board at of the journal Educación Médica, served on the advisory board of the Journal of European CME, and has served as a reviewer for articles in various medical journals including Academic Medicine, Frontiers in Pharmacology, the Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions, Medical Teacher, and Quality and Safety in Health Care.
Dr. Aparicio’s influence on the field of health promotion and disease prevention is extensive as demonstrated by his involvement with professional organizations both local and national. He has been on the Board of Directors or served as an officer in more than 10 organizations such as The Global Alliance for Medical Education, Hispanocare, the Illinois Medical Directors Association, the National Task Force on Continuing Medical Education Provider/Industry Collaboration, the Ravenswood Health Care Foundation, and the Portes Foundation. He received a presidential appointment to the White House Conference on Aging in 2005.
Dr. Aparicio’s impact on health care providers is evident from the many awards he has received recognizing his work such as the President’s Award from the Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions, the Preceptorship Award from the American College of Physicians, the Robert Raszkowski, MD, PhD ACCME Hero Award from the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education, the Geriatrics Recognition Award from the American Geriatrics Society, the Physician Recognition Award from the AMA, and the Award of Merit from the Federation of State Medical Boards.
The Portes Foundation & the Institute of Medicine of Chicago are proud to honor Dr. Aparicio with Portes/IOMC Award for Excellence in the Field of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention.
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