CHICAGO — Jesse M. Ehrenfeld, M.D., M.P.H, an anesthesiologist from Wisconsin, was voted president-elect of the American Medical Association (AMA) by physicians gathered at the Annual Meeting of the AMA House of Delegates. Following a year-long term as president-elect, Dr. Ehrenfeld will be installed as AMA president in June 2023. 

“I am honored to be elected by my peers to represent the nation’s physicians and the patients we serve,” said Dr. Ehrenfeld. “It is a pivotal and challenging time for medicine, physicians and our health system, and as president-elect, I am committed to advancing the AMA’s immediate goals around the Recovery Plan for America’s Physicians, as well as the longer-term advocacy efforts aimed at shaping the future of medicine and improving the health of the nation.”

Active in organized medicine since medical school, Dr. Ehrenfeld was elected to the AMA Board of Trustees in 2014, serving as chair from 2019 to 2020. Dr. Ehrenfeld has also served as a member of the governing councils of both the AMA Young Physicians Section and the AMA Resident and Fellow Section, as well as the governing boards of the American Society of Anesthesiologists Resident Component and the Illinois State Medical Society. Additionally, Dr. Ehrenfeld is a former speaker for the Massachusetts Medical Society and the youngest officer in the organization’s history.  

Dr. Ehrenfeld is the first openly gay person to be AMA president-elect.

Currently, Dr. Ehrenfeld is a practicing anesthesiologist, senior associate dean, and tenured professor of anesthesiology at the Medical College of Wisconsin, where he leads the largest statewide health philanthropy, the Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment. Dr. Ehrenfeld is also an adjunct professor of anesthesiology and health policy at Vanderbilt University and adjunct professor of surgery at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md. 

A co-author of 18 clinical textbooks, Dr. Ehrenfeld is the editor in chief of the Journal of Medical Systems. His research — focused on how digital technology can improve surgical safety, patient outcomes, and health equity — has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Department of Defense, the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation, the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Dr. Ehrenfeld’s work in this arena has led to the publication of more than 200 peer-reviewed manuscripts, and recognition as an inaugural recipient of the NIH’s Sexual & Gender Minority Research Investigator Award. 

Dr. Ehrenfeld is a graduate of Haverford College, the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, and the Harvard School of Public Health. He completed an internship in internal medicine, a residency in anesthesiology, and a fellowship in research informatics at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Board-certified in both anesthesiology and clinical informatics, Dr. Ehrenfeld is a fellow of the American Society of Anesthesiologists and the American Medical Informatics Association.

Outside of his medical career, Dr. Ehrenfeld is an Emmy-nominated photographer and 2015 recipient of a White House News Photographers Association award for his work in capturing and advocating for the lives of LGBTQ+ people. He has served as a special advisor to the 20th U.S. Surgeon General and provides technical expertise as a consultant to the World Health Organization Digital Health Technical Advisory Group.

Dr. Ehrenfeld is a combat veteran who deployed to Afghanistan during both Operation Enduring Freedom and Resolute Support Mission. He and his husband, Judd Taback, live in Milwaukee with their son, Ethan.