The overarching goals of the AAP include the promotion of professional and social interaction among biomedical scientists, the dissemination of important information related to biomedical science and teaching, the recognition of outstanding scientists through membership, and the establishment of role models to kindle new generations of high achievers in medicine and medical science.
The "Transactions of the Association of American Physicians," published until 1995, recorded the presentations of members at the annual meeting.
In that year, it was replaced by the bimonthly "Proceedings of the Association of American Physicians" (no longer published).
The AAP honors selected scientists with the George M. Kober Medal (started in 1927; awarded annually since 1929, except for 1944 and 1946) and the George M. Kober Lectureship (awarded every three years since 1925), for outstanding contributions to medicine or medical science.
Living members of the AAP who have also been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine include Barry Marshall, Stanley Prusiner, Michael S. Brown, Joseph L. Goldstein, and others.