AMA becomes an international force in medicine

AMA Leader Commentary. By D. Ted Lewers, MD, chair of the AMA Board of Trustees. April 3, 2000.

AMA LEADER COMMENTARY

A few words about current events in medical practice

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A message to all physicians from D. Ted Lewers, MD, chair of the AMA Board of Trustees.

Since joining the AMA Board of Trustees in 1993, I have had the privilege of meeting literally thousands of physicians in every setting imaginable.

In virtually every state in the union, I have talked with physicians in multispecialty group practice, solo practice and every practice configuration in between.

And almost without exception, I find dedicated, hard-working professionals literally consumed by the myriad demands and details of the day-to-day practice of medicine. There are precious few opportunities to look beyond local demands, to take the long view of the art and science of medicine.

But there is a longer view, a global perspective that, in the future, I believe will shape our professional lives more and more.

In his best-selling book, The Lexus and the Olive Tree, New York Times foreign affairs columnist Thomas Friedman rightly points out that ours is a new era of globalization, an era that is just 10 years old, dating from the fall of the Berlin Wall.

But for us in the AMA, globalization began decades ago. If anything, globalization is now taking on added significance as traditional national boundaries, traditional ideas, traditional ways of doing our jobs no longer exist and new forms of action and interaction come into play.

The art and science of medicine truly is an international entity. And the AMA truly is an international force. Some examples come easily to hand:

The Journal of the American Medical Association distributes virtually half its editions outside the United States; English is just one of a dozen languages JAMA uses in its 17 editions.
English is the "lingua franca" of medicine, and American medical information is the world's premier resource, as American medical research, treatment, education and ethics set the standards..
Non-U.S. practitioners recognize the quality of American medicine by sending both their medical students and their patients to the United States..
The number of non-U.S. visits to the AMA Internet site is a large and growing percentage of 1.5 million hits per week..
Members of the World Medical Assn. look first at the AMA's ways of doing things before setting policy, tapping the AMA's experience, policy base and solid research..
Individual governments and medical groups study the AMA to determine how best to re-create local AMAs..

In that spirit, two current examples of AMA globalization underscore the round-the-world reach of what we do.

In August, the AMA will co-sponsor the 11th annual World Conference on Tobacco OR Health, recognizing the AMA's worldwide leadership in cutting tobacco consumption.

And the AMA House of Delegates has voted to establish an international membership category. International memberships will foster continuing medical education, the exchange of knowledge and the setting of professional standards worldwide.

The AMA has hosted a number of foreign delegations wanting to know how best to emulate AMA processes. The U.S. State Dept.'s Agency for International Development included AMA representatives in a group sent to help Russian physicians establish certification processes.

Last year, for the first time, AMA advisers were included in the U.S. delegation to the World Health Organization. And each month brings new invitations for the AMA to participate in conferences, symposia, media briefings and other meetings outside the United States.

All of this adds up to a large and growing global presence for the medical profession's leading force.

Management consultant Peter Drucker observed that soon, "there will be two types of CEOs: those who think globally and those who are unemployed."

I won't make a similar prediction for physicians, not only because it would be absurd but also because ours is already a globally thinking -- and acting -- profession.

What's your view? I encourage you to e-mail me.

Dr. Lewers of Easton, Md., a nephrologist and internist, was AMA board chair during 2000-01.