News in brief - Aug. 28, 2000

GME survey to go online - PRN may represent second group - GLMA names new president

GME survey to go online

An online survey of graduate medical education programs for the 2000-2001 academic year is under way through the joint sponsorship of the AMA and the Assn. of American Medical Colleges.

The survey of more than 7,600 residency programs -- now called the 2000 National GME Census -- will be conducted through an online questionnaire. The new survey, which must be completed by Sept. 30, replaces the AMA's Annual Survey of GME Programs and the AAMC's Census.

Data will be collected through GME Track (http://www.aamc.org/gmetrack).

After the census is complete, program officials can access resident and program data online to view and print resident rosters and CVs. They also can download data and maintain a longitudinal history of resident training.

Data collected in the census are used for several AMA products, including FREIDA Online, Physician Select and the Graduate Medical Education Directory, known as the "green book."

For more information, contact the Census Support Line at (800) 866-6793 or GME Track at (202) 862-6171, e-mail (gmetrack@aamc.org).

PRN may represent second group

Physicians for Responsible Negotiation has filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to represent a second group of physicians.

PRN is seeking to represent all full-time, nonsupervisory, employed occupational medicine physicians at Concentra Managed Care Inc. in New Jersey. Concentra operates the nation's largest network of occupational health care centers, with approximately 350 physicians in more than 200 centers in 32 states.

If PRN wins an election to be held among physicians that have been ruled eligible to vote by the NLRB, it will immediately initiate negotiations with Concentra. PRN President Susan Hershberg Adelman, MD, said Concentra physicians contacted PRN because they were worried that company policies interfere with physicians' ability to control treatment plans.

PRN also represents physicians employed by the Wellness Plan, a Medicaid HMO in Michigan.

GLMA names new president

Saul Levin, MD, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Access Consulting International Inc, has been named president of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Assn.

Dr. Levin has been a special expert to the Dept. of Health and Human Services in the areas of health system reform, and the linking of primary care, substance abuse treatment, mental health services and HIV/AIDS research.