The AMA House of Delegates elected Susan R. Bailey, MD, an allergist and immunologist from Fort Worth, Texas, as the Association’s president-elect during the 2019 AMA Annual Meeting in Chicago. Following a year-long term as president-elect, Dr. Bailey will assume the office of AMA president in June 2020. She will be the third woman in a row to hold the position.
AMA Immediate Past President Barbara L. McAneny, MD, and AMA President Patrice A. Harris, MD, MA, preceded Dr. Bailey in the office of AMA president-elect. (The women are pictured above, shown left to right).
“It is a deep honor and privilege to be named president-elect of an organization that is committed to helping the medical profession and the patients we serve,” Dr. Bailey said during her acceptance speech. “Challenging times remain for the health care system and as AMA president-elect, I pledge to serve as a strong voice and dedicated advocate for patients and physicians on the pressing health care issues confronting our nation.”
First elected to the AMA Board of Trustees in 2011, Dr. Bailey served as vice-speaker and speaker of the House of Delegates, the AMA’s primary policymaking body. Dr. Bailey has held numerous leadership positions at the AMA over the years, including two terms on the AMA Council on Medical Education, culminating as chair of this influential advisory council. She was a member of the AMA’s Advisory Panel to the Women in Medicine Project and the AMA’s Ad Hoc Committee on Women Physicians, the precursors to today’s AMA Women Physicians Section.
Dr. Bailey also has represented the AMA in the American Board of Medical Specialties Assembly, the board of directors of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education, and now serves on the board of directors of COLA, a national laboratory accreditation organization.
Other elected leaders
The House of Delegates also voted for Bruce A. Scott, MD, an otolaryngologist from Louisville, Kentucky, as its speaker. In this position, Dr. Scott will preside over 640 physicians and medical students who comprise the policymaking body of the nation’s largest physician organization.
Dr. Scott said he feels privileged to take the role in helping to “craft results-focused policies that enable physicians to answer a national imperative to improve the health of the nation.”
During the last four years, Dr. Scott has served as vice-speaker of the AMA House of Delegates and as a member of the AMA Board of Trustees. He has extensive experience in AMA leadership positions and has previously served as chair of the AMA Resident and Fellow Section, delegate for the AMA Young Physicians Section, and was the young physician member on the AMA Board of Trustees. Dr. Scott has also served as president and board member of the AMA Foundation.
Dr. Scott will be replaced in the vice chair speaker position by Lisa Bohman Egbert, MD, an ob-gyn from Dayton, Ohio, who was elected to the position on Tuesday.
“I am excited to embrace this opportunity to help advance the AMA’s work to shape the future of medicine and improve patient care,” Dr. Egbert said.
Dr. Egbert has been an active AMA member since medical school and has held several leadership positions within the AMA over the years. She previously served on the governing councils of both the Resident Physicians Section and the Young Physicians Section, as well as chair of the Young Physicians Section. Additionally, she has served on the AMPAC Board of Directors and the Women in Medicine Advisory Panel. She is now serving her second term on the Council on Medical Service.
New board members voted in
Grayson W. Armstrong, MD, a Harvard ophthalmology resident at Massachusetts Eye and Ear, was voted to the AMA’s Board of Trustees Resident and Fellow seat.
“I am driven to support the mission of the American Medical Association by focusing on the future of medicine,” Dr. Armstrong said. “The resident and fellow perspective will be vital as healthcare evolves and medical education shifts to develop young physicians poised to promote the health of the nation, and tackle new challenges.”
Dr. Armstrong began serving as an AMA delegate in medical school. He also serves on the executive committee of the Massachusetts Society of Eye Physicians and Surgeons.
Michael Suk, MD, JD, an orthopaedic surgeon based in Danville, Pennsylvania, was also elected to the Association’s Board of Trustees.
Dr. Suk is board certified in orthopaedic surgery, chief physician officer of Geisinger System Services, chairman of Geisinger’s Musculoskeletal Institute and Department of Orthopedic Surgery, and has been part of the AMA for almost 30 years. He was the first medical student directly elected to the AMA Board of Trustees. Dr. Suk has also served on the AMA Council on Medical Service and chaired the AMA Resident and Fellow Section.
“I firmly believe people are what makes quality health care possible,” said Dr. Suk. “I recognize the importance of advocating for medical professionals in all stages of training and practice, and I appreciate the way the AMA brings young people in and nurtures their careers.”
Willie Underwood III, MD, a urologist based in Buffalo, New York, was also voted to a position on the AMA Board of Trustees.
Dr. Underwood is a board certified urologic surgeon specializing in prostate cancer who has been practicing in New York for the past 11 years. Dr. Underwood has been an active leader in organized medicine for many years. He has chaired the AMA Council on Legislation and the AMA Resident and Fellow Section, served as president of the Erie County New York Medical Society, and he is an AMA Delegate from the American Urological Association.
“The goals on which the AMA was founded more than 170 years ago—professionalism, advocacy and ethics—are as noble and worthy today as they were then,” said Dr. Underwood. “I look forward to playing a role in the AMA’s push to unlock the promise of a healthier nation.”
Read more about the 2019 AMA elections.
