Kentucky physician Steven J. Stack, MD, assumed the AMA presidency Tuesday night, the first emergency physician to hold the post and the youngest president in 160 years.
Dr. Stack’s emergency medicine experience has given him the opportunity to witness many life-changing moments—“the moments we went to medical school for …. the moments for which we forego nights with our families,” he said during his inaugural address. “These are the moments that sustain us.”
However, physicians often find that day-to-day challenges overshadow these moments, from government regulations and health system changes made without physician input to payers questioning procedures and medical liability concerns.
“But for each story of frustration, there is a story of vision, perseverance and success,” he said. “There is a story of hope.”
That hope comes from joining together, similar to how lives are saved in the emergency department.
“Above all, it takes a team,” Dr. Stack said. “Each one of us has a role to play. Each one of us contributes something the other cannot. The same can be said of health care in this country. When it comes to something as important as shaping a better, healthier future, it will take every single one of us.”
A Classics scholar, Dr. Stack points out that history offers valuable insight. He reflected on challenges in the AMA’s history—“medical quackery, insufficient standards in medical education, ethical dilemmas, the perils of smoking”—that physicians overcame together.
“Rather than waiting for tomorrow, we’re creating the future of health care today,” he said.
