Strong educational standards are core of our profession

AMA Leader Commentary. By J. James Rohack, MD, April 4, 2005.

AMA LEADER COMMENTARY

A few words about current events in medical practice

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A message to all physicians from the chair of the AMA Board of Trustees, J. James Rohack, MD.

Not many Americans know this, but before the establishment of legally recognized educational standards for doctors, virtually anyone could hang up a shingle and claim to be a physician. Likewise, not many people realize that the American Medical Association has always been concerned about individuals who attempt to practice medicine without the appropriate education and training.

In short, we have always seen it as our duty to protect patients from those who would offer medical care without adequate grounding in science and clinical practice.

This desire to protect the public, and preserve the art and science of medicine, helped inspire the founding of our American Medical Association in 1847.

Besides creating and adopting basic ethical principles of medicine, the AMA also established rigorous standards for medical education.

Not long after, it also created a Committee on Quackery to protect patients from would-be healers who, while gifted in the arts of publicity and self-promotion, had no actual training in medicine.

Thanks to the work of the AMA and the state medical associations, each state passed laws to set the standards for medical licensure. These laws used the educational standards set by AMA as the basis for deciding who could practice medicine within the state's borders. In this way, the AMA has stood at the forefront of both medical education and medical licensure in the United States.

Today, we have new challenges to face, particularly in the area of scope of practice.