Nearly 700 physicians and medical students are gathering in Honolulu for the 2022 AMA Interim Meeting to consider proposals across a wide range of clinical practice, payment, medical education and public health topics. The meeting’s opening session is Saturday and the meeting runs through Nov. 15.
The AMA House of Delegates will work in a democratic process to create a national physician consensus on emerging issues in public health, science, ethics, business and government to improve the care and public heath of patients and communities. The policies adopted at this meeting will give the AMA direction and act as a driving force on the future of American medicine.
AMA delegates also will have the opportunity to engage with educational offerings covering issues such as long COVID syndrome, how to advance health equity, and the impact of misinformation on Lyme disease treatment.
Policy discussion
Among the notable issues that will be addressed at the 2022 AMA Interim Meeting are these:
- Addressing the impact of private equity on medical training.
- Advocating reduced greenhouse gas-emissions to protect public health.
- Designating opioid settlement money to train more addiction-treatment physicians.
- Ensuring accuracy of pulse-oximeter readings in patients with pigmented skin.
- Opposing athletic-eligibility policies that mandate clinically unnecessary medical interventions.
- Removing measures of Native ancestry in medical school applications.
Consult this comprehensive list of the policy proposals being considered at the 2022 AMA Interim Meeting.
Special sessions
Physicians and medical students attending the meeting at the Hawai’i Convention Center in Honolulu also have the opportunity to learn from experts on a variety of subjects, including these below.
“Health Equity Open Forum: Achieving health equity through the Medical Justice in Advocacy Fellowship and Rise to Health: A National Coalition for Equity in Health Care.” In this two-session open forum hosted by the AMA Center for Health Equity, the first session will provide a brief overview of Rise to Health: A National Coalition for Equity in Health Care, in which delegates will learn about key strategies and concrete actions professional societies and individual physicians can take to advance health equity.
In the second session, members of the inaugural cohort of the Medical Justice in Advocacy Fellowship will present their culminating projects, which encompass physician-led advocacy to advance health equity. Through rotating small-group discussions, delegates will explore these projects and identify opportunities to replicate physician-led advocacy in their own settings. (Saturday, Nov. 12, 2:30–5 p.m. HST, Kalakua Ballroom.)
“Addressing Misinformation and Misconceptions: Caring for Patients with Persistent Symptoms Attributed to Lyme Disease.” Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the U.S. and its incidence is expected to increase with climate change. Most cases can be cured with a course of oral antibiotics. However, some patients have concerns about persistent symptoms they attribute to Lyme disease. Physicians often find it challenging to treat these patients due to the lack of evidence-based guidance and growing patient exposure to misinformation.
The AMA, with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, collected expert opinions from 25 physicians from a range primary care, neurology, rheumatology, psychiatry and infectious diseases specialties through in-depth interviews and focus groups to inform guidance on evaluating and treating patients with concerns for persistent symptoms attributed to Lyme disease.
Delegates attending this session will learn about the initial findings of this study and take part in breakout discussions to learn from colleagues and share their own experiences in managing patients, addressing misinformation, and evaluating resources that could support physicians in treating these patients. (Sunday, Nov. 13, 2:30–4 p.m., Room 317 B.)
Learn more about the 2022 AMA Interim Meeting’s education sessions.
Follow the meeting
Highlights of the meeting’s key moments and House of Delegates policy actions will be posted daily at the AMA website, the 2022 AMA Interim Meeting website, and the AMA’s Facebook page, Instagram and Twitter account using #AMAmtg.
Addresses from leadership and more will be featured on the AMA’s YouTube channel. After the meeting, be sure to follow the AMA on LinkedIn for additional updates as well.
