At the 2014 Interim Meeting of the AMA Section on Medical Schools (SMS), participants, comprising deans and faculty from a wide range of medical schools nationwide, voiced their opinions and reached decisions on several reports and resolutions to be acted upon by delegates at the AMA Interim Meeting in Dallas. The AMA-SMA meeting was held Nov. 6-7 in Chicago.
Their work will guide the section delegate and alternate delegate in the discussions and voting during the AMA meeting. Issues covered included:
- Medical students’ use of electronic health records
- The AMA’s Academic Leadership Program, which offers membership discounts to medical schools at which the dean and at least five lead faculty are AMA members
- Emphasis on the social determinants of health in medical school curricula
- Funding of graduate medical education
The AMA-SMS plays a key role in ensuring that AMA policy on medical education reflects the input and expertise of academic physicians. This role was highlighted in a presentation by AMA-SMS alternate delegate Kenneth B. Simons, MD, senior associate dean for Graduate Medical Education and Accreditation at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
In his talk, Dr. Simons also emphasized the many professional leadership opportunities available for AMA members to serve on national organizations in medical education, including the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and American Board of Medical Specialties.
AMA-SMS chair Cynda Ann Johnson, MD, MBA, President and Founding Dean of Virginia Tech Carilion of School of Medicine and Research Institute, welcomed the many new and returning AMA-SMS members and other attendees. Along with Susan Skochelak, MD, MPH, Group Vice President of Medical Education at the AMA, Dr. Johnson covered such topics as:
- The AMA’s Accelerating Change in Medical Education initiative
- The AMA’s Academic Leadership Program, which offers membership discounts to medical schools at which the dean and at least five lead faculty are AMA members
- The AMA-SMS endorsement of the candidacy of Donald Eckhoff, MD, AMA-SMS delegate, for election to the AMA Council on Medical Education in June 2015
- The ongoing strategic planning process of the AMA-SMS, including a proposed name change to the Academic Physicians Section (APS).
Meeting attendees also enjoyed a guided tour of the AMA's new headquarters, housed in a building designed by internationally renowned architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, as well as a networking reception for academic physicians, featuring views of the Chicago skyline from the AMA’s 47th floor.
The AMA-SMS is the AMA member section that represents all academic physicians, educators and faculty/leadership of U.S. medical schools. The section currently is comprised of nearly 650 members. If you’re not already a member, join now.
The next meeting of the AMA-SMS is in Chicago on June 5-6, 2015, in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the AMA HOD.
Learn more about the SMS at the section website.
