AMA policy review, education sessions and networking opportunities with academic physician colleagues were part of the 2015 AMA Section on Medical Schools (SMS) Annual Meeting, June 5-6 in Chicago.
Meeting participants, comprised of deans and faculty from a wide range of medical schools nationwide, voiced their opinions and reached decisions on several reports and resolutions to be acted upon by delegates at the 2015 AMA Annual Meeting, June 6-10. Their work guides the section’s delegate and alternate delegate in the discussions and voting.
Issues covered included obesity education for future physicians, the value of resident physicians to the health care system, transparency in medical education and access to training in settings affiliated with religious health care organizations, and human trafficking reporting and education.
Other items covered such topics as how to expand residency programs, selecting resident physicians to better reflect patient diversity, including military history as part of standard history taking, and reducing the financial and educational costs of residency interviews.
In addition, AMA-SMS members voted in favor of a resolution that would update the section’s bylaws. Among other revisions, this resolution, if passed by the AMA House of Delegates, would change the section’s name to the AMA Academic Physicians Section.
Election of 2015-2016 AMA-SMS Governing Council
For the annual elections to the nine-member AMA-SMS Governing Council, members elected the slate put forward by the nomination committee as follows:
AMA-SMS chair-elect: John Roberts, MD, associate dean for graduate medical education, ACGME-designated official, University of Louisville School of Medicine
Liaison to the AMA Council on Medical Education: Surendra K. Varma, MD, executive associate dean for graduate medical education and resident affairs, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine
AMA-SMS members-at-large:
- Jose Manuel de la Rosa, MD, provost and vice president for academic affairs, founding dean, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine (new AMA-SMS governing council member)
- George Mejicano, MD, senior associate dean for education, Oregon Health and Science University School of Medicine
- Capt. Mark B. Stephens, MD, Medical Corps of the U.S. Navy, professor and chair of the department of family medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine (new AMA-SMS governing council member)
The AMA-SMS also bade farewell to past chair John P. Fogarty, MD, dean at Florida State University College of Medicine. Cynda Ann Johnson, MD, president and founding dean at Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute, takes his place. In addition, Betty Drees, MD, former dean at the University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Medicine, completed her service as AMA-SMS liaison to the AMA Council on Medical Education.
Updates on key nationwide medical education activities
After welcome and introductions from Alma Littles, MD, AMA-SMS chair for 2015-2016 and senior associate dean for medical education and academic affairs at Florida State University College of Medicine, a number of speakers covered key issues affecting academic physicians. Thomas A. Deutsch, MD, dean of the meeting’s host medical school, Rush Medical College of Rush University, provided a synopsis of his institution’s work in preparing future physicians for practice in the health care environment of tomorrow, and outlined some of the key disruptions and challenges that medical education needs to foresee and address.
In addition, Susan Skochelak, MD, AMA group vice president of medical education, provided an update on the work of the AMA’s Accelerating Change in Medical Education initiative to advance and disseminate innovations to all U.S. medical schools. Barbara Barzansky, PhD, co-secretary of the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, provided an update on the committee’s activities related to medical school accreditation and its work to streamline the accreditation process.
Other highlights included a review of the AMA-SMS role in developing and reviewing AMA policy, a legislative update, an AMA academic physician membership update, a review of the work of the AMA Council on Medical Education, and an update on the activities of the AMA Alliance and AMA Foundation.
Also during the meeting, a representative of the AMA Medical Student Section presented the award for the 2014-2015 AMA Section Involvement Grant Event of the Year, which went to the AMA medical student section at the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School for its Community Health Fair. Through the SIG program, the AMA Medical Student Section provides an opportunity for local AMA medical student sections to educate students about the AMA and provide an opportunity for students to get more involved, help put AMA policy into action by providing a service to medical school campuses or communities, and engage in activities that focus on the AMA’s top priorities.
Educational focus on MOC, unmatched medical students
The education component of the meeting focused on two topics of interest to physicians and medical students alike. The first session covered maintenance of certification (MOC) and featured Lois M. Nora, MD, president and chief executive officer of the American Board of Medical Specialties.
A reactor panel followed with Richard J. Baron, MD, president and chief executive officer of the American Board of Internal Medicine, and Joshua M. Cohen, MD, director of education at Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Roosevelt and St. Luke's hospitals and chair of the AMA Young Physicians Section Committee on Maintenance of Certification and Maintenance of Licensure.
An interactive discussion followed, with a number of meeting participants weighing in on the best ways to measure and assess the continued competence of physicians. In addition, Dr. Nora specifically called on academic physicians to play a larger role in MOC and its continued refinement.
The topic of unmatched medical school graduates was covered in a second educational session featuring Geoffrey Young, PhD, program leader for the Association of American Medical College’s group on student affairs. Dr. Young presented data on recent trends in Match rates.
Two reactors followed: Kathleen Kashima, PhD, senior associate dean of students at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, and Betty Drees, MD, AMA-SMS liaison to the AMA Council on Medical Education. The session highlighted ways to identify and mentor students at risk for not matching, assist students who do not successfully match and consider how holistic medical school admissions processes may ultimately help improve Match rates.
The next meeting of the AMA-SMS is Nov. 13-14 in Atlanta, Georgia, in conjunction with the 2015 AMA Interim Meeting.
The AMA-SMS is the AMA member section that represents all academic physicians, educators and faculty/leadership of U.S. medical schools. Learn more.
