News in brief - March 3, 2003

AMA honors public officials with Nathan Davis Awards - Clinical skills test moves forward - Physicians Who Care dissolves

AMA honors public officials with Nathan Davis Awards

U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici (R, N.M.) and U.S. Rep. James Greenwood (R, Pa.) were among nine public officials honored with the AMA's 2003 Nathan Davis Award for Outstanding Government Service during a Feb. 11 ceremony in Washington, D.C.

The award, named for the founder of the AMA, is the organization's highest award for public service and recognizes elected and career officials at the federal, state and municipal levels whose contributions have promoted the art and science of medicine and the betterment of public health.

"The AMA presents the Nathan Davis Awards each year to encourage and stimulate recognition of the highest public service standards throughout all levels of government," said AMA President Yank D. Coble Jr., MD. "The recipients have worked tirelessly to improve the health and well-being of their communities."

The winners and the category in which they won are:

Domenici, U.S. senator.

Greenwood, U.S. representative.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, member of the federal executive branch serving by presidential appointment.

Judith Elaine Fradkin, MD, member of the federal executive branch in career public service. Dr. Fradkin is director of the Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolic Disease for the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at the National Institutes of Health.

Capt. Daniel Carucci, MD, PhD, career military service. He is director of the Naval Medical Research Center's malaria program.

Wisconsin State Sen. Judith Robson, RN, member of state Senate.

Texas State Rep. Patricia Gray, member of state Legislature.

Virginia State Health Commissioner Robert Stroube, MD, MPH, career public servant at the state level.

Thomas P. Luehring, MPH, career public servant at the local level. He is director of health and human services for the village of Schaumburg, Ill.

Clinical skills test moves forward

Members of medical school graduating classes of 2005 could be the first to have the clinical skills assessment test as a part of their licensing requirements.

According to the National Board of Medical Examiners, recently completed field trials at regional testing sites in Philadelphia and Atlanta showed U.S. students performing at a rate similar to native English-speaking international medical graduates, who have been taking the test since 1998. No pass rates were available for the students in the trial, since pass/fail criteria has yet to be finalized.

Participating students came from seven medical schools neighboring the two testing sites and were in the end of their third year or start of the fourth year of medical college. The NBME survey of 858 students revealed that 4% said they had never taken a history or conducted a physical examination under the watch of a faculty member, and 20% said they had been observed two or fewer times.

According to the Liaison Committee for Medical Education, such numbers do not indicate a failure in the education system. Accreditation teams run into similar comments when interviewing medical students during site visits, but evidence from site visits indicate that this may be more forgetfulness on the part of the students as opposed to medical schools not giving sufficient training on taking a history and making a physical examination.

Delegates at the AMA 2002 Interim Meeting came out against using a clinical skills test as a means to determine licensing medical school graduates. But the Assn. of American Medical Colleges supports the test, with the idea that it will help restore confidence in the medical profession.

Test sponsors commissioned a Harris Interactive survey on the topic, which showed that 87% of the public thinks doctors should be required to pass a licensing exam and 66% saying this should be required even if this costs them an additional $1,000.

Concern among practicing physicians is that such a test, once it has an established track record, will become a requirement for all.

James N. Thompson, MD, executive vice president and chief executive officer of the Federation of State Medical Boards, said a number of state medical boards were looking at the issue of licensure maintenance and that such a test could be used as a demonstration of competence for practicing physicians.

Physicians Who Care dissolves

Physicians Who Care, a national organization of physicians in favor of quality medical care and alternative insurance coverage, disbanded recently as its membership dwindled from a peak of 4,000 in the 1990s to a low of 1,000 in 2002.

The organization, founded in 1985, was created in reaction to the expansion of HMOs and their perceived negative impact on the quality of patient care. Its sister organization, Patients Who Care, with 11,000 members, remains active.

"We're very sorry we're having to do this," said Kathryn Sutton, former executive director of the group. "Physicians are overwhelmed with malpractice and everything going on, and they belong to so many organizations. There's a time for everything."