For Medical Students

Residency slots would rise under proposed legislation

Graduate medical education (GME) slots in the United States would rise by 15,000 and a teaching hospital could receive up to 75 new residency slots if it meets certain eligibility requirements under bipartisan legislation introduced earlier this month in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Reps. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.) and Allyson Schwartz (D-Pa.) are co-sponsoring the legislation—the "Resident Physician Shortage Reduction and Graduate Medical Education Accountability and Transparency Act"—which was introduced Aug. 2 in the House. In addition to adding residency slots, the bill would require adjusting Medicare Indirect Medical Education (IME) payments by 2 percent based on a hospital's reporting on quality measures and the hospital's performance on those measures.

That means hospitals that do not meet the measures and performance standards would face a 2 percent reduction in IME payments. This is substantial since two-thirds of Medicare funding for GME comes through IME payments.

The bill also would require the Government Accountability Office to issue reports on GME and would require an annual transparency report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that explains how each hospital uses its GME funding.

The AMA supports increasing GME slots but believes there are challenges with tying quality reporting and performance requirements to IME payment levels.

Abstracts due this Friday for AMA Research Symposium

AMA member medical students interested in sharing their research during this year's AMA Research Symposium must submit their abstracts by Friday.

The symposium includes poster and oral presentation competitions, with one overall poster winner and one overall oral presentation winner receiving a trip to the 2013 AMA-MSS Annual Assembly Meeting in Chicago. Prizes will be awarded in the following eight categories:

• Biochemistry/cell biology
• Cancer biology
• Clinical outcomes and health care improvement
• Immunology/infectious disease/inflammation
• Neurobiology/neuroscience
• Public health and epidemiology
• Radiology/imaging
• Surgery/biomedical engineering

The symposium will take place Nov. 9 in Honolulu in conjunction with the AMA-MSS Interim Assembly Meeting.

Encourage your friends and classmates to join the AMA

AMA membership is important throughout all years of medical school—and it's never too late to join. Here's a snapshot of the benefits available to AMA members throughout medical school.

First year

• Free Netter's Anatomy Flash Cards with four-year membership
• Subscription to the Journal of the American Medical Association

Second year

• AMA member-only discounts on the First Aid for the USMLE and First Aid for the COMLEX series and the Rapid Review series
• 30 percent savings on Kaplan Qbank products

Third year

• AMA members-only access to FREIDA Online®, your go-to place to research residency programs
• Print and online versions of the AMA's Choosing a Medical Specialty Resource Guide

Fourth year

• Access to "Succeeding from Medical School to Practice" online guide
• Hertz car rental savings for traveling to interviews

Don't miss out on valuable resources for AMA members. Renew your membership or join the AMA today to begin receiving these benefits.