During the American Medical Association (AMA) 2023 Annual Meeting held last month in Chicago, Dr. Jesse M. Ehrenfeld was sworn in as the 178th president. He committed to a more inclusive and equitable future for medicine during his inaugural address.
AMWA was represented in the House of Delegates (HOD) by Dr. Neelum T. Aggarwal, AMWA delegate, and past president Dr. Roberta Gebhard, AMWA alternate delegate, Our delegates gave support and provided testimony on resolutions including the following priorities:
- Report on Responsibilities to Promote Equitable Care, which is core to our mission: To ensure excellence in health care.
- Council Report on Science and Public Health to Support Removal of BMI as a Standard Measure in Medicine and Recognizing Culturally Diverse and Varied Presentation of Eating Disorders and Indications for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. These areas are a focus of discussion and education through the AMWA obesity initiative.
- Recognition that Racism is a Threat to Public Health and Readdressing the Harms of Misusing Race in Medicine as well as support for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Offices and Initiatives at U.S. Medical Schools to Enhance Longitudinal Community Engagement and the importance of maintaining the Tribal Public Health Authority. AMWA addresses these issues through our Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Council as well as our Anti-Racism efforts.
- Recognition of the role of physicians in identifying and treating sexual assault survivors. The AMWA Physicians Against Trafficking Humans (PATH) leads trainings for health professionals.
- Telemedicine Services and Health Equity. AMWA has a particular interest in promoting telehealth as a platform to address menopause issues in our Check In On Menopause program.
- Assessing the Potentially Dangerous Intersection between AI and Misinformation
Dr. Gebhard and AMWA President-elect Dr. Susan Hingle recently completed their terms as the AMWA representative and member at-large, respectively, for the AMA Women Physicians Section Governing Council. Dr. Tiffani Bell Washington will now serve as the AMWA representative, along with Dr. Gloria Wu and Dr. Elisa Choi, who will serve as members at-large for the AMA, Women Physicians Section Governing Council. AMWA past president Dr. Theresa Rohr-Kirchgraber serves on the Minority Affairs Council and AMWA past president Dr. Kim Templeton is a member and past chair of the Orthopaedic Section Council and Chair-Elect of the Mobility Caucus. Dr. Janelle Marra will represent AMWA as an associate within the AMA Women Physicians Section.
AMWA member Dr. Mollie Marr was recognized with the Excellence in LGBTQ Health Award and AMWA 2023 Annual Meeting Keynote Speaker Dr. Caitlin Bernard was recognized with the inaugural Courage in Women’s Health Advocacy Award.
AMWA holds a permanent seat on the AMA House of Delegates and the AMA Women Physicians Section Governing Council. We encourage members to consider representing AMWA in one of these leadership roles as they come open every two years.
And, if any of the topics mentioned above pique your interest, we encourage you to join with others who share your passion to plan programming, advocate for change, and share your experiences and insights. Learn how you can get involved in AMWA initiatives.
Questions? Please contact admin@amwa-doc.org.
For the full list of the resolutions that AMWA gave support to and/or provided testimony, please see below.
- Resolution 009: Racism – A Threat to Public Health
- Resolution 014: Readdressing the Harms of Misusing Race in Medicine
- Resolution 206: Tribal Public Health Authority*
- Resolution 207: Ground Ambulance Services and Surprise Billing*
- Resolution 211: Sexual Assault Survivors –
- Resolution 213: Telemedicine Services and Health Equity*
- Resolution 213: Telemedicine Services and Health Equity*
- Resolution 220: Coverage of Routine Costs of Clinical Trials by Medicare Advantage Organizations*
- Resolution 235: EMS as an Essential Service*
- Resolution 247: Assessing the Potentially Dangerous Intersection between AI and Misinformation*
- Resolution 319: Supporting Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Offices and Initiatives at United States Medical Schools to Enhance Longitudinal Community Engagement*
- Resolution 517: Genetic Predisposition and Health care Disparities, Including Cardiovascular disease in South Asians Residing in the United States*
- Resolution 610: NIH Public Access Plan *
- Resolution 715: Published Metrics for Hospitals and Hospital Systems
- BOT Report 17: AMA Public Health Strategy*
- CEJA Report 04: Responsibilities to Promote Equitable Care
- Council on Science and Public Health Report 7: Support Removal of BMI as a Standard Measure in Medicine and Recognizing Culturally Diverse and Varied Presentation of Eating Disorders and Indications for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery
AMA Women Physicians Section Governing Council
AMA Women Physicians Section Governing Council
Dr. Neelum Aggawal, AMWA Delegate to the AMA HOD
Dr. Mollie Marr
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