CHICAGO — The American Medical Association (AMA) today announced the election of Andrew W. Gurman, M.D., an orthopaedic hand surgeon from Hollidaysburg, Pa., as the new president-elect of the nation’s largest and most influential physician organization. Following his year-long term as president-elect, Dr. Gurman will assume the office of AMA president in June 2016.
“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,” said Dr. Gurman. “Challenging times remain for the health care system and as AMA president-elect; I pledge to serve as a strong voice for American physicians as we work with others to solve challenges to providing the best medical care in the world to all, while preserving our sacred relationship with patients.”
During the last eight years, Dr. Gurman has served as the speaker and vice speaker of the House of Delegates, the AMA’s primary policy-making body, and has been an active member of the AMA Board of Trustees. He has served as board liaison to the AMA Foundation and worked to align the activities of the Foundation with the mission of the AMA.
Dr. Gurman has represented the AMA at the Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement, an influential leader in enhancing health care quality; and the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy Stakeholders Group on Opioid Prescribing and Dispensing, a group dedicated to preventing inappropriate prescribing and dispensing of controlled substances.
Dr. Gurman has a distinguished record of service and leadership in organized medicine. He has represented Pennsylvania physicians in the AMA House of Delegates for nearly two decades. He is a former speaker and vice speaker of the Pennsylvania Medical Society House of Delegates and he twice served as chair of the Pennsylvania Medical Society Political Action Committee.
A native of New York City, Dr. Gurman grew up in Mount Vernon, N.Y. He attended Syracuse University and received his medical degree from the State University of New York Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, in 1980. He completed a surgical internship and residency in orthopaedic surgery at the combined Montefiore Hospital/Albert Einstein program in New York City, and a fellowship in hand surgery at the Hospital for Joint Diseases Orthopaedic Institute, also in New York City.
Dr. Gurman is in private practice in Altoona, Pa., where he and his wife Nancy have resided for 28 years. They have two adult daughters.
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The American Medical Association is the physicians’ powerful ally in patient care. As the only medical association that convenes 190+ state and specialty medical societies and other critical stakeholders, the AMA represents physicians with a unified voice to all key players in health care. The AMA leverages its strength by removing the obstacles that interfere with patient care, leading the charge to prevent chronic disease and confront public health crises and, driving the future of medicine to tackle the biggest challenges in health care.
