News in brief - March 7, 2005

AMA connects with Miami physicians - King/Drew gets reprieve - National Patient Safety Awareness Week observed - N.Y. medical school gains notoriety over gay group

AMA connects with Miami physicians

About 30 American Medical Association members asked questions and shared their thoughts with AMA leadership in Miami for the first Member Connect Roundtable of 2005. Medical students, practicing physicians and retired doctors gathered at South Miami Hospital to exchange ideas about AMA priorities.

AMA President John C. Nelson, MD, MPH; AMA Trustee John H. Armstrong, MD; AMA Executive Vice President Michael D. Maves, MD; and AMA Vice President of Legislative Affairs Ross Rubin met with the doctors. Another 14 Roundtables are scheduled this year, including stops in Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Houston, Riverside/San Bernardino, Calif., and Seattle. For information go online (www.ama-assn.org/go/roundtables).

King/Drew gets reprieve

Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center in Los Angeles passed a critical inspection Feb. 15 enabling it to keep $200 million in funding from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, roughly half of the hospital's budget.

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations revoked the hospital's accreditation Feb. 1 after a lengthy appeals process that began in September 2004. As a result, it also stands to lose Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education accreditation for its remaining 16 residency programs, as well as federal funds tied to training residents. In the past five years, the teaching hospital has lost residency programs in radiology, neonatology and surgery.

National Patient Safety Awareness Week observed

Calling effective communication the "patient safety tool of choice," "Ask, Listen and Learn" is the theme of the 4th annual National Patient Safety Awareness Week, which will be observed March 6-12.

The event's sponsor, the National Patient Safety Foundation, is asking physicians to listen to their patients, speak in simple terms and encourage patients to be a partner in their own care. Patients are urged to ask questions and to work with their doctors to manage their health.

For information on the event, visit the NPSF's Web site (www.npsf.org/html/psaw).

N.Y. medical school gains notoriety over gay group

New York Medical College is attracting national attention for withdrawing its support of a gay students' group.

The situation began in the fall, according to the Gay and Lesbian Medical Assn. That's when the organization, previously called the Student Support Club, changed its name to the NYMC Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender People in Medicine. After the name change, the school revoked the student group's charter. Without the charter, NYMC no longer gives the student association money, and the school won't let it use campus space or the college e-mail system.

Ralph A. O'Connell, MD, provost and NYMC dean, said in a statement that as a school under a Catholic charter, it would not support an organization whose objectives were inconsistent with the school's institutional values. He also refuted the students' claim that the club had previously been a gay support group.

Dr. O'Connell said that the Student Support Club existed to provide a forum for students to support each other on issues involving relationships, raising a family in medical school, sexuality, personal health and stress.

The incident gained wider attention when a Westchester County Health Commissioner quit his NYMC faculty appointment over the incident, according to newspaper reports. It then gained national attention when a White Plains, N.Y., newspaper story indicated that the American Medical Association defended the school's decision to revoke the group's charter.

However, the AMA in a statement said, "The AMA does not support banning a gay and lesbian medical student group at New York Medical College. The AMA encourages all medical schools to give great consideration to the benefits that arise from diversity, and help raise awareness among our physicians-in-training about the unique needs of their future gay and lesbian patients."

In June 2004, the AMA House of Delegates adopted a resolution to create a gay and lesbian advisory committee for the board, which is expected to up and running this spring.