Darrell Kirch, chief executive officer of the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and dean of the College of Medicine, will resign his posts to serve as president of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).

Kirch has been at Penn State since 2000, and his resignation will take effect June 30.

"It's a sad thing to think about leaving Penn State. My family and I have developed deep roots here," he said. "It's a great university, and the Hershey campus is filled with wonderful people. ... But in the end, this is a national opportunity that is unique, and I could not pass it up."

Kirch will start his new duties as AAMC president July 1.

There are some major issues facing medical schools in the United States, and as AAMC president, he will be expected to help the public understand the problems so people can support governmental action to deal with them, Kirch said. "There is growing evidence that we are facing a doctor shortage in the country," he said. "The federal funding for medical research has been falling, which is very dangerous for our future health. And the teaching hospitals for the medical schools do a large proportion of the health care for uninsured patients in the United States. So the combination of those things is very important for us to address as a nation."

Kirch, who also serves as Penn State's senior vice president for health affairs, is the fifth dean to resign since this summer.

University spokesman Bill Mahon said it's not a problem that so many deans have resigned this year. "Penn State has a turnover all the time. We have dozens and dozens of senior administrators that go on to take senior leadership positions at institutions and universities," he said. "I think it says something about the quality of the people we have working at Penn State, that they are so sought after around the country."

Since the summer, Cheryl Achterberg, dean of the Schreyer Honors College; Judy Olian, dean of the Smeal College of Business; Jim Thomas, dean of the School of Information Sciences and Technology; and Raymond Coward, dean of the College of Health and Human Development have resigned from their positions.

Mahon said there is always enough time to put out a national search for leadership to replace deans who resign. "Sometimes that leadership comes from within and sometimes they're brought in from other institutions," he said. "We have such a great reputation nationally that it's easy to attract candidates for these positions."