AMSUS DELEGATE'S REPORT AMA HOUSE OF DELEGATES 2004 ANNUAL MEETING

Military Medicine, Fall 2004 by Cassimatis, Emmanuel G

Introduction

The AMA House of Delegates 2004 Annual Meeting was held in Chicago, Illinois from June 12 through June 16, 2004. Your delegate additionally attended the meetings of the Council on Medical Education, and portions of the National Medical Veterans Society and Specialty and Service Society meetings.

Special Anniversaries and Other Activities

Several special events were scheduled during the 2004 annual meeting in celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the AMA Council on Medical Education (CME-100). The successor to the AMA Committee on Medical Education, which was initially founded 157 years ago, the Council, established in 1904, recommends educational policies to the AMA House of Delegates and nominates physicians for appointment to various accrediting bodies and national organizations. It evaluates all aspects of medical education and also promotes and recognizes physician's continuing education through the Physicians Recognition Award (PRA), which is now accepted by 24 states in meeting requirements for relicensure. CME-100 special anniversary activities included a reception and dinner on Friday evening, June 11, and an academic program on Friday and Saturday, cosponsored by the Council and the AMA's Section on Medical Schools. The academic program included presentations by Dale Smith, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of Medical History at the Uniformed Services University; Harvey Fineberg, M.D., President of the Institute of Medicine; Darrell Kirch, M.D., Chair of the AAMC Council on Deans; Enrique Mendez, M.D., former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs; Nancy Dickey, M.D., President of Texas A&M University Health Science Center; Carl Getto, M.D., Chair, Council on Graduate Medical Education; and David Leach, M.D., Executive Director, ACGME. Additionally, a panel of young medical leaders, Patricia Burgess, M.D., Maurice Sholas, M.D., PhD, and Joe McDonald, chairs respectively of the AMA Young Physicians' Section, the AMA Resident and Fellow Section and the AMA Medical Student Section, addressed "generational issues in the physician work force". During the opening session of the House of Delegates, Dr. Jim Rohack, Chair-elect of the AMA Board of Trustees, introduced a video celebrating the Council's contributions during the past 100 years. And immediately following the House opening session, the AMA Foundation held a reception in honor of the Council's 100th Anniversary.

Other notable events included a celebration of 25 years of the AMA Women in Medicine Program, by the AMA Women Physicians Congress; and the first ever Medical Specialties Showcase by the AMA Medical Student Section, during which more than 36 specialty societies and other organizations provided opportunities for our 700 medical student attendees to learn more, first hand, about medical specialties and several educational institutions

Meeting Highlights

Notable presentations during the annual meeting included a speech by AMA President Donald J. Palmisano, M.D., who likened the AMA's determination to that of Dr. Roger Banister, who was the first human being to run a mile in under four minutes in 1954. The kind of determination displayed by Dr. Banister, "the ability to take more out of yourself than you've got," is what will ultimately help the AMA, according to Dr. Palmisano, to change our system of health care through initiatives such as a tax credit plan to cover the uninsured, patient safety legislation, and a fix to the nation's broken medical liability system. Dr. Mike Maves, AMA Executive Vice President/ CEO celebrated AMA's successful recent fiscal policy and pointed out that the AMA now spends 25.8 million dollars less on administrative and general expenses than it did in 1999. Dr. Maves also pointed out that during the past year -and for the first time in several years- the number of AMA members increased by 5,200. Finally, the AMA's incoming president, Dr. John C. Nelson, during his inauguration speech, likened the powering of our professionalism to "lighting the fire within," a simile inspired by his hometown (Salt Lake City)'s hosting of the 2002 winter Olympics. Harnessing the fire within, "a fire of passion, a fire of service to our patients," will be critical according to Dr. Nelson in achieving the AMA's top three priorities in the coming year: Health care coverage for all of America, Medicare reform, and a better, fairer liability system.

A large range of issues was again addressed by the House of Delegates. In the area of constitution and bylaws, the House adopted the recommendation that physicians not offer financial incentives or other consideration to patients in exchange for recruitment of other patients; as such incentives can compromise the patient-physician relationship. The AMA also reaffirmed its policies supporting human treatment of prisoners and detainees and endorsed ongoing formal review of US interrogation practices of prisoners and detainees. The House further adopted a resolution to advocate for state governments to be given the opportunity to develop and test models for improving health care coverage for low-income patients. It also adopted a policy to work with state licensing boards and other agencies to establish reduced fee volunteer medical licenses for physicians who volunteer to care for the uninsured or indigent. It reaffirmed its policies protecting women's privacy in termination of pregnancies, and voted to express concern to President Bush and the Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding DOJ's issuance of subpoenas that seek to disclose the confidential medical records of women who had second trimester abortions. In the area of education, the House adopted resolutions supporting service learning as a key component in the medical school and residency curricula, and voted to actively pursue the creation of a National Training Network for its National Disaster Life Support Program. Enhancements to the current program would include creation of online courses, a voluntary electronic registry of trained individuals and outreach to other organizations involved in national disaster life support education. The House reaffirmed its longstanding policy against discrimination in residency selection; and resolved to develop and disseminate a survey in 2005 to medical students, resident physicians and faculty to determine the effects on the clinical learning environment of duty hour standards implemented by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education during 2003. In the area of public health and prevention the AMA adopted a series of resolutions addressing obesity. The House specifically called for elementary schools to offer at least 30 minutes of daily free play and for the development of public recreational facilities such as bike paths. It also called for a study of possible improvements concerning the US Department of Agriculture's Dietary Guidelines for Americans and Food Guide Pyramid; supported increased availability of healthy food choices in hospitals; and reaffirmed policies calling for the elimination of soft drinks and 'junk foods" from schools. A more detailed discussion of House activities and resolutions can be found on the AMA website at www.ama-assn.org/meetings.>