AMA eVoice Weekly Newsletter

Common themes

I am writing this on my return to the Unites States after having attended the 142nd annual meeting of the Canadian Medical Association. I bring best wishes from the AMA (AMA in Canada refers to the Alberta Medical Association) at the installation of Anne Doig, MD, as the association’s new president. Dr. Doig is a family physician from Saskatoon, where the meeting was held, and takes the helm at a time when Canada’s health care system has been the United States’ focus of attention as we look at our own health system reform.

The themes the Canadian General Counsel (equivalent to the AMA House of Delegates) debated during the four-day meeting included building a culture of patient care, incentives for enhancing access and improving quality care, enhancing patient access across the continuum of care, helping providers help patients and building accountability, implementation of a strategic plan, health promotion and prevention, medical education and physician resources, and health and the environment.

As I listened to the debate, I was struck that these are the same themes the United States struggles with: access, quality and cost. The biggest difference is the bilingual nature, as materials are presented both in French and English, and the speakers varied in their oral presentation—some in English, some in French and some in both.

Canada has poverty leading to significant health issues with their native populations, as does the United States with ours. A common theme was the balance of technology needs with limited resources, and it was noted that Canada play a unique role in providing radioisotopes for their country and the United States. This has an impact on patient care, particularly with the closure of a nuclear power plant in Chalk River, Ontario, that produces these materials for nuclear medicine diagnostic and therapeutic purposes.

Canadians are struggling like we are with trying to use health information technology as a tool to advance patient care. Interoperability and rural-area access are barriers for them, too. Physicians recognized training in quality improvement tools as a need as well as patient engagement in improving health care safety. And as the Canadian population ages, they called for the need for a review of the specialty mix of postgraduate training positions in Canada as well as other methods besides the use of conditional and restricted licensure by medical regulatory authorities and provincial and territorial governments to influence physician distribution.

The Canadian physicians I talked with felt that the inaccurate portrayal of the care they provide to their fellow citizens by some Americans was deeply insulting. One family physician commented on access. He noted that when he needs to have a patient seen urgently, he picks up the phone and gets the patient seen. He said that the lack of science about how long a patient waits to be seen and the American culture that created fast food drive-thru immediacy has created a distortion that waiting a couple of months to see a specialist or get a test done is not automatically bad medicine, as it has been portrayed by some in America. He noted that the Canadian health care system does not have to deal with 47 million within their borders who may wait forever and die because they don’t have health insurance.

The common theme of physician professionalism was seen in all with whom I interacted—the cab drivers, hotel staff and clerks. I talked to them about their health care system, and they indicated that they did not have the anxiety that in an instant, with a loss of job or a catastrophic illness or sickness of a child, they would lose their health care coverage.

As America debates health system reform and Congress returns in September, we must not forget the goal the AMA is working for: affordable, quality health care coverage for all in a pluralistic American system that preserves freedom of choice and freedom of practice. It is something that we can achieve with your help. Visit the AMA’s health system reform Web site for more information and to sign up for the AMA’s Physicians’ Grassroots Network.

—J. James Rohack, MD

1) AMA makes a health reform "house call" on Michigan
The AMA brought its National House Call campaign to Michigan this week to clarify the facts about health system reform and to make the case that reform is needed.

"The people of Michigan know only too well that losing a job can also mean losing health insurance," AMA Immediate Past President Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD, said. "The AMA is working for all Americans to have affordable, portable health care coverage that can't be taken away if you get sick or lose your job."

Dr. Nielsen traveled to Detroit, Lansing and Grand Rapids to talk with patients and physicians about the benefits of system improvements like expanding coverage and eliminating denials based on pre-existing conditions.

View the AMA's news release about Dr. Nielsen's Michigan visit.

Visit our health system reform Web site to learn more about the AMA's efforts on achieving health system reform this year.

2) New blog features AMA president
Follow AMA President J. James Rohack, MD, on his blog, "On the road with Dr. Rohack," as he highlights the AMA's efforts to make an impact on the issues that matter most to America's physicians and patients.

The blog, which will chronicle Dr. Rohack's frequent travels and the important issues medicine faces, can be viewed on the AMA Web site as well as the AMA's new health system reform Web site.

3) AMA answers patients' questions about health system reform
Check out the AMA's virtual town hall videos, in which AMA members answer questions from patients and debunk myths about health system reform. AMA President J. James Rohack, MD, and other AMA physicians share accurate and easy-to-understand information to help calm fears and clarify facts.

The videos explore questions about health care rationing, potential physician shortages and the cost of covering all Americans—common concerns in the health reform debate. The most recent video, the second in a series, addresses questions about health insurance, while the first installment focuses on access to care.

View the Aug. 25 virtual town hall video on health insurance.

View the Aug. 21 virtual town hall video on access to care.

Also, follow the AMA on Facebook or on Twitter to keep up with the latest in the health care reform debate.

4) AMA continues outreach efforts on health system reform
AMA leaders continue to conduct a series of regional tele-town hall Physicians' Forums to respond to members' questions about health system reform legislation and the AMA's advocacy efforts. The AMA hosted calls this week covering Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, Florida, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Physicians' Forums will continue through next week. View details about tele-town halls scheduled for Sept. 1 and 2.

5) True champion for America's patients remembered
The AMA joined the nation earlier this week in mourning the death of Sen. Edward Kennedy. During his many years in public service, Sen. Kennedy was a champion for America's patients—working until the end to make improvements on their behalf. Earlier this year, the AMA honored him with its highest award for government service, the Dr. Nathan Davis Award for Outstanding Government Service, which is bestowed upon those who go above and beyond the call of duty to improve public health.

"No doubt Senator Kennedy's legacy will be burnished by his many contributions to improving America's health system over the years—including his work that helped pave the way for this year's effort to provide affordable, quality health insurance coverage to all Americans," said AMA President J. James Rohack, MD.

View the full AMA news release on Sen. Kennedy's death.

View an Aug. 27 blog posting by Dr. Rohack in honor of Sen. Kennedy.

6) AMA WorldScopes: helping doctors who need stethoscopes help patients
The AMA's WorldScopes initiative, in collaboration with the AMA Foundation, collects and delivers stethoscopes to doctors, nurses and other health care professionals around the world who lack this most basic of medical instruments.

To date, WorldScopes has distributed nearly 6,500 stethoscopes—worth an estimated $100,000—to clinics and hospitals from Afghanistan to Zambia. Last year, WorldScopes provided stethoscopes for mobile medical teams that responded in the deadly aftermath of cyclones in Myanmar. Recently, stethoscopes were delivered to a maternity ward in the Philippines and to a pediatric hospital in the Dominican Republic.

WorldScopes donations are tax deductible. Learn more about how you can help make a difference.

7) Discounts at the AMA Bookstore: just one benefit of being an AMA member
Is your practice up to speed? Is it running as well as it can? If you think that general operations are less than perfect, an AMA resource can help lubricate the gears and tighten the screws.

AMA members receive a discount on "The Physician's Guide to Survival and Success in the Medical Practice," an invaluable reference guide that details the day-to-day operation of a medical practice and offers tools and techniques for managing personnel, finance and operations, marketing and promotion, and risk. The guide also includes up-to-date coverage of electronic health records and other technologies. A user-friendly three-ring binder format offers many forms, evaluation and assessment tools, and other aids, all of which also can be found in a CD-ROM.

AMA members can visit the AMA Bookstore to take advantage of their member discount on this and other titles offered by the AMA Bookstore.

If you're an AMA member, don't lose valuable resources such as this. Renew your membership. If you're not a member, join the AMA today and begin receiving them.

8) In JAMA: Risk of death following acute coronary syndromes different for men, women
Women may have a slightly higher risk of death than men in the 30 days following an acute coronary syndrome (ACS), such as heart attack or unstable angina, according to a study in the Aug. 26 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). This difference appears attributable to factors such as severity and type of ACS, clinical differences and angiographic severity.

View the study.

View a JAMA Report video about this study.

View the Aug. 26 issue of JAMA.

1) Editorial calls for confronting disparities among GLBT youth
An editorial in the September issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health calls on clinicians and health researchers to lead the charge in improving the health and well-being of the nation's GLBT teens. The editorial follows up on a study previously published in the journal about the health care preferences of the GLBT community.

View a news release from Children's Hospital Boston about the editorial. Mark Schuster, MD, chief of general pediatrics at the hospital, is one of the editorial's authors.

2) Get informed about health system reform
Visit the AMA's new health system reform Web site to learn the facts about what reform would mean for you and your patients.

The site contains a variety of resources, including virtual town hall videos in which AMA members answer questions from patients and debunk myths about health system reform, and a summary of how legislation developed by the U.S. House of Representatives, H.R. 3200, would affect graduate medical education funding and the resident physician shortage issue.

Sign up to receive the AMA's Health System Reform Bulletin.

1) AMA-IMG Section meeting set for Nov. 6–9
The next AMA-IMG Section Congress meeting will take place Nov. 6–9 at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston. Visit the AMA-IMG Web site for more details about the meeting and to download a registration form. All AMA-IMG Section meetings are free to attend, and guests are welcome. If you have any questions, send an e-mail to img@ama-assn.org or call J. Mori Johnson, director of the AMA-IMG Section, at (312) 464-5678.

2) Virtual Congress conference call set for Sept. 9
The AMA IMG Section will hold a conference call at 7 p.m. CST Sept 9 to discuss submitted IMG Section resolutions for its upcoming meeting in Houston.

Resolutions will be posted on the AMA-IMG Web site by Sept. 4. Members can e-mail their testimony regarding the submitted resolutions to img@ama-assn.org by Sept. 10 or to participate in the Sept. 9 conference call.

Send an e-mail to img@ama-assn.org by 5 p.m. Sept. 9 to reserve a spot for the conference call. You will be sent dialing instructions and a copy of the agenda and resolutions.

3) Resolutions for Interim Meeting due soon
If you would like to submit a resolution to the AMA-IMG Section's Virtual Congress, please e-mail it to img@ama-assn.org by Sept. 1.

This year's Interim Meeting of the AMA House of Delegates will focus only on advocacy issues, so all resolutions submitted from the AMA-IMG Section for the meeting must fit the following definition of advocacy: Active use of communication and influence with public and private sector entities responsible for making decisions that directly affect physician practice, payment for physician services, funding and regulation of education and research, and access to and delivery of medical care.

View guidelines for writing a resolution.

If your resolution does not fit the aforementioned advocacy definition, it will be held over until the AMA-IMG Section's June 2010 meeting.

If you have any questions or would like to submit a draft resolution for comments, e-mail it to img@ama-assn.org or call Carolyn Carter-Ellis of the AMA-IMG Section at (312) 464-5397.

Brought to you by the AMA Section on Medical Schools

1) Get the details on upcoming AMA-SMS meeting
The AMA-SMS is going green. As a result, information about the next AMA-SMS meeting—which will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. Nov. 6 at the Marriott Copley Place in Boston—will be e-mailed to all section representatives by Aug. 31. Check your e-mail for details. No information will be mailed through the post office.

The meeting will be held in conjunction with the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Annual Meeting, which is taking place at the same time as the Interim Meeting of the AMA House of Delegates in Houston. The AMA-SMS Governing Council decided to hold its section meeting in Boston rather than Houston because of the large number of AMA-SMS members who regularly attend the AAMC meeting.

During the meeting, featured speaker Todd Dorman, MD, associate dean and director of continuing medical education at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, will discuss the future of continuing medical education. Also, four Boston medical school deans will highlight innovative programs at their respective institutions.

Send an e-mail to jackie.drake@ama-assn.org or call the section's office at (312) 464-4655 if you have questions.

2) Sign up for AMA's new continuing medical education webinars
The AMA's division of Continuing Physician Professional Development recently announced three new webinar presentations that will take place in the coming months.

Two of these presentations will focus on PI CME, the AMA's performance improvement CME model; one will be targeted specifically for hospitals and the other for medical specialty societies. These webinars also will include information regarding the availability and use of measures approved by the AMA-convened Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement.

The third webinar will provide information about the AMA Physician's Recognition Award credit system basics.

Visit the AMA online learning Web site for dates, faculty information and additional details.

3) AMA video offers best practices when taking a sexual history
Many health care providers know and understand the importance of taking a proper sexual history. Often times, sexual history reveals additional important facts about a patient, such as his or her sexual orientation or gender identity. The video, "Patient sexual health history: What you need to know to help," offers recommendations and considerations when treating gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender patients.

View this free video.

4) In American Medical News: Bans on industry gifts to physicians criticized for overreaching
According to the Aug. 10 issue of American Medical News, some physicians disapprove of the gifts ban as going too far and harming innovation. The Association of Clinical Researchers and Educators recommends a middle ground so that physicians are able to conduct industry-funded clinical trials or consult with industry without being considered unprofessional and unethical.

1) Mark your calendar for AMA-MSS Interim Assembly Meeting deadlines
This year's AMA-MSS Interim Assembly Meeting will be held Nov. 5–7 at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston. Join the section for policymaking and educational sessions, a national service project event, the annual Research Poster Symposium and more.

Please keep the following deadlines in mind:

• Convention committee applications are due Sept. 7.
• Research Poster Symposium abstracts are due Sept. 18.
• Final resolutions with checklist are due Sept. 25; a draft resolution must be posted on the AMA-MSS Health Policy and News listserv by Sept. 11.
• Meeting registration and AMA Board of Trustees, chair-elect and regional delegate applications are due Oct. 1.

Visit the AMA-MSS Web site for more information and for applications.

In addition, the AMA-MSS is planning programs for the meeting and would like your ideas. Use the online form to submit your ideas by Sept. 7.

2) Apply for AMA-MSS convention committees by Sept. 7
Are you interested in becoming more involved in the AMA-MSS? If so, AMA student members are encouraged to apply for one of the various convention committees that expedite the conduct of business at each AMA-MSS Assembly meeting.

Positions are available on the community service project committee, logistics and resources committee, reference committee, hospitality committee and others. Applications are due Sept. 7.

Apply for a convention committee.

3) AMA launches new health system reform Web site
The AMA has developed a health system reform Web site, which launched last week, to provide medical students and physicians with facts, breaking news and important Web links to a variety of resources that can help them stay up to speed on health system reform news.

Visit the health system reform Web site to sign up for electronic updates, to get the latest news or to take action.

4) Want to be a theme issue editor for Virtual Mentor?
Virtual Mentor, the AMA's online ethics journal, is looking for students and residents to serve as theme issue editors in conjunction with the journal's staff editors. Theme issue editors are responsible for choosing themes, generating case narratives, working with other contributors and editing.

Each theme issue editor will receive a $1,000 stipend. Virtual Mentor aims to promote the ethical and professional development of tomorrow's physicians; its primary audience is medical students, residents, physicians and medical educators.

Visit the Virtual Mentor Web site to learn more and apply. Applications are due by midnight CST Nov. 13.

5) FREIDA Online: just one benefit of being an AMA member
So residency is just around the corner. Where are you going to go? Which institution has the right program for you?

As an AMA member, you have an outstanding resource at your fingertips—FREIDA Online. FREIDA is a database with more than 8,200 graduate medical education programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, as well as more than 200 combined specialty programs. AMA members-only functions for FRIEDA include being able to save the contents of your folder to view at a later date, and the ability to print program mailing address labels directly to your computer's printer at no cost.

If you're an AMA member, don't lose valuable resources such as access to AMA member functions of FREIDA Online. Renew your membership. If you're not a member, join the AMA today and begin receiving them.

6) In the AMA's GME e-Letter: Patient care handoffs a hot topic
This month's issue of the AMA's GME e-Letter tackles handoffs of patient care and the importance of teaching effective elements of careful and organized handoffs. The GME e-Letter is the AMA's monthly newsletter that covers information of interest to the graduate medical education (GME) community.

Brought to you by the AMA Minority Affairs Consortium

1) Video clears up myths about health reform and the Indian Health Service
A video by the Kimberly Teehee, policy advisor for Native American affairs on the White House Domestic Policy Council, debunks myths being spread about how health system reform will affect the Indian Health Service and explains how reform will allow Native Americans to keep the care they have now.

2) In American Medical News: Physicians seen as key in combating obesity
Obesity is a problem that affects more and more of the U.S. population, and a recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conference offered concrete suggestions about how physicians can help reduce the country's growing weight problems, American Medical News reports.

3) Share your resolution ideas
Do you have a topic affecting minority physicians, medical students or patients that you would like the AMA-MAC Governing Council to consider introducing to the AMA House of Delegates? If so, send your ideas for resolutions to mac@ama-assn.org by Sept. 7.

1) Feedback requested on working draft of Joint Commission medical staff standard
The AMA is soliciting feedback from its members concerning their level of support for proposed language of Joint Commission hospital accreditation standard MS.01.01.01. Feedback is due by Oct. 15.

A Joint Commission task force convened to implement medical staff standard MS.01.01.01, previously known as MS.1.20, reached consensus and unanimous agreement in March on a completely new "draft" standard that would replace the current standard. Consensus means that each member of the task force agreed to actively support adoption of the recommended new standard. The AMA supports the proposed language for standard MS.01.01.01.

AMA-OMSS representatives can visit the discussion area to review and provide comment on working draft standard MS.01.01.01.

If you are not an AMA-OMSS representative and would like to become one, download a certification form and fax it to (312) 464-5845, e-mail it to omss@ama-assn.org or mail it to 515 N. State St., Chicago, IL 60654.

2) Carilion targeted in FTC complaint
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently filed a complaint against Carilion Clinic concerning its acquisition of two outpatient centers in the Roanoke, Va., area. The complaint alleges that Carilion's acquisitions violate federal antitrust laws.

View a story published by Modern Physician about the complaint.

View a story published by the Roanoke Times about the complaint.

3) White House health IT chief says national health information system "critical"
A nationwide electronic health information exchange is a critical component to achieving health system reform, wrote David Blumenthal, MD, national coordinator for health information technology (IT), in a message posted last week on the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Web site.

View Dr. Blumenthal's message.

4) AMA-OMSS Assembly meeting set for this fall
The next AMA-OMSS Assembly meeting will take place Nov. 5–7 at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, preceding the Interim Meeting of the AMA House of Delegates. Resolutions for this meeting are due Sept. 25, and the AMA-OMSS handbook will be posted on the section's Web site Oct. 2.

More information about the meeting will be posted later this month on the AMA-OMSS Web site. In the meantime, details of the section's June assembly meeting are available for viewing.

1) Get informed about health system reform
Visit the AMA's new health system reform Web site to learn the facts about what reform would mean for you and your patients.

The site contains a variety of resources, including virtual town hall videos in which AMA members answer questions from patients and debunk myths about health system reform, and a summary of how legislation developed by the U.S. House of Representatives, H.R. 3200, would affect graduate medical education funding and the resident physician shortage issue.

Sign up to receive the AMA's Health System Reform Bulletin.

2) New opportunity to present research at Interim Meeting
Because of the wide success of the AMA-RFS's annual Research Poster Symposium, the AMA-RFS is providing interested residents and fellows with the opportunity to enter an oral presentation podium competition.

Entry criteria and submission guidelines for the oral presentation competition are similar to the poster competition, so visit the AMA-RFS Web site for details. The AMA-RFS Committee on Scientific Research and the AMA-RFS Governing Council will select abstracts entered in the oral presentation competition.

Submissions for both the poster symposium and the oral presentation competition are due Sept. 15.

1) Educating physicians to meet the demographic imperative
As the nation's 65-and-older population increases from 37 million to more than an estimated 70 million by 2020, the workload of all physicians caring for the elderly will increase dramatically. That's why, in 2007, the AMA began an initiative on the impact of aging on health care with the goal of ensuring that all physicians caring for the elderly will be proficient in geriatric care principles and practices.

In the first year of the initiative, the AMA collaborated with the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), which spearheaded a consensus process to identify specific medical student competencies in geriatric medicine. This consensus statement presents a minimum set of graduating medical student competencies, or learning outcomes, to assure competent care to older patients by new residents. Twenty-six competencies were adopted.

View the competencies through the Portal of Geriatric Online Education, a free public repository of a growing collection of geriatric educational materials in various formats.

Moving forward, the AMA will expand the collaboration to explore the development of geriatric competencies at the residency level, building upon the work that has already been done by the AAMC, the American Geriatrics Society and others. The AMA is eager to work with all interested parties.

Contact Joanne Schwartzberg, MD, the AMA's director of aging and community health, at Joanne.Schwartzberg@ama-assn.org for more information.

View an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association regarding the competencies.

2) Interim Meeting caucus to include program about volunteering initiative
The AMA-SPG is sponsoring an educational program on the Volunteers in Medicine initiative Nov. 7 as part of its caucus, which will be held in conjunction with the Interim Meeting of the AMA House of Delegates.

All are welcome to attend; please come with your questions and comments about free clinics or your opinions about continuing to work after reaching retirement age. The educational program will be followed by a caucus led by AMA-SPG Governing Council Chair John Knote, MD, who will identify reports and resolutions of interest to senior physicians.

Brought to you by the AMA Women Physicians Congress

1) Idaho physicians celebrate Women in Medicine month
Are you an Idaho physician looking to celebrate Women in Medicine month in September? The WWAMI Medical Education Program—a partnership between the states of Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho that aims to provide access to publicly supported medical education across those five states—will host a breakfast Sept. 15 at the Gritman Medical Center in Moscow, Idaho, in honor of Women in Medicine month.

View a flier for more information about this event.

Is your state or specialty doing something to celebrate Women in Medicine month? If so, send an e-mail to the AMA-WPC at wpc@ama-assn.org; the AMA-WPC can help promote your event through AMA eVoice.

2) Study examines adverse events associated with HPV vaccine
An analysis of adverse events reported following distribution of quadrivalent human papillomavirus (HPV) recombinant vaccine since 2006 indicates that adverse event rates were consistent with pre-licensing data and expected background rates of other vaccines, according to a study in the Aug. 19 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The report also showed an exception of a higher proportion of reports of fainting and blood clots.

View the study "Postlicensure Safety Surveillance for Quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus Recombinant Vaccine."

View an Aug. 18 story on this study in HealthDay News.

3) Are you experiencing discrimination in the work place based on your gender?
It's not always obvious where to seek help if a physician or medical student believes they are experiencing disparate treatment at work. However, AMA members have the opportunity, through the AMA's Office of General Counsel, to discuss any concerns directly with an attorney.

Upon contacting the AMA, an attorney in the AMA's Office of General Counsel will meet with the physician or student to discuss concerns, identify issues and offer guidance about resources. While the AMA's Office of General Counsel cannot provide legal advice, attorneys can equip physicians and students with suggestions to help address their concerns.

This feature is offered exclusively to AMA members. Send an e-mail to wpc@ama-assn.org to take advantage of this member benefit. Upon verifying your AMA membership, a member of the AMA's Office of General Counsel will contact you.

1) AMA-YPS Assembly meeting set for this fall
Young physicians, mark your calendars. The next AMA-YPS Assembly meeting will take place Nov. 5–7 at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, preceding the Interim Meeting of the AMA House of Delegates (HOD). The deadline to submit resolutions to the AMA-YPS and to volunteer for the section's reference, HOD handbook review or credentials committees is Oct. 2.

Visit the AMA-YPS Web site to learn more about AMA-YPS committees and how to get involved.

Learn more about writing a resolution.

Send an e-mail to Jane Ascroft at jane.ascroft@ama-assn.org if you have questions.

2) Now's the time to think about a Doctors Back to School event
With a new school year under way in many communities, physicians are encouraged to learn about the AMA's Doctors Back to School program and to plan an event at a local school.

The goal of the program, which sends minority physicians and medical students into the community as a way to introduce children to professional role models, is to increase the number of minority physicians and ultimately work toward eliminating racial and ethnic health disparities. Doctors Back to School aims to show kids of all ages, especially those from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, that medicine is an attainable career option for everyone.

Access the Doctors Back to School action kit to help you plan an event. The kit contains four main components—student, school, parent and physician. Portions of the student and parent components are available in Spanish.

Once you complete your program, the AMA wants to hear about it. Send an e-mail to mac@ama-assn.org with the details.

3) AMPAC announces 2010 programs
The AMA Political Action Committee (AMPAC) will hold its annual Candidate Workshop from Feb. 19–21 and annual Campaign School from April 21–25. The Candidate Workshop is designed for AMA members and their spouses who are considering a run for public office, while the Candidate School is for AMA members who wish to become involved in the political process as advocates and volunteers for medicine-friendly candidates. Both programs will take place in Pentagon City, Va.

AMPAC covers all costs for AMA members and their spouses, excluding transportation to the Washington, DC metro area. AMA membership needs to be current for 2010.