AMWA Initiatives

The American Medical Women’s Association advocates bringing under-addressed issues to the forefront of the national agenda.  Join our initiatives now.

Gun Violence Solutions

Gun violence research in the US has been hindered since 1996 with the Congressional passage of the Dickey Amendment that intended to counter a 1993 NEJM study by Arthur Kellermann, reporting an increased risk of homicide in homes with guns. The Dickey Amendment states that “none of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) may be used to advocate or promote gun control.” In 2020, in response to #ThisIsOurLane and other advocacy efforts, $25 million in funding for firearms-related research was allocated, marking a national shift towards finding solutions to the gun violence crisis.

As women in medicine at all stages of our training and careers and with a range of specialties, it behooves us to recognize the significant impact of gun violence on communities throughout the country. As physicians, we must consider the known repercussions of gun violence on the medical system.  The American Medical Women’s Association is uniquely positioned to address solutions to gun violence.

Mission

To advocate for evidence-informed gun safety policy and clinical care practices through the lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Strategies

With over 5,000 women physician members and 100 medical school chapters across the country, AMWA is uniquely positioned to achieve our mission by:

  • Providing a platform to listen and learn from diverse perspectives
  • Promoting equitable gun violence prevention research, education, and advocacy 
  • Supporting inclusive gun violence prevention curricula for health providers and trainees. 

Commitment to Gun Violence Education

Gun violence is a public health crisis. In 2019, approximately 40,000 Americans died from gun violence. Homicide is the 3rd leading cause of death in children and black male youth aged 15-24 with firearms responsible for ¾ of those deaths. Health providers have an important role to play in prevention policies and practices.

To promote Gun Violence Literacy for Health Professionals, view this Webinar Series:

Gun Violence—A Gripping Narrative Effects of Gun Violence

In 2015, AMWA established a commitment to seeking solutions to gun violence to address this growing problem in the United States. We have opportunities for leadership and committee roles for anyone who wants to get involved.

Discussion Cases and Guides

For more information about our resource library of discussion cases, guides, and power point presentations, or have an interest in joining this effort, Please Email Us. Please also feel free to share your resources with the task force.

Keep up to date on our activity, petitions, and coalition updates.  Bookmark this page, or follow us on social media! Twitter @AMWAGVTF, or on Facebook as the American Medical Womens Association Gun Violence Prevention Task Force. Share, retweet and Like!

Get Involved!

Are you an AMWA chapter leader, or are you interested in putting on an educational event or series of events on gun violence in your institution? AMWA has resources for you! Please email us at amwagunviolencetaskforce@gmail.com, and we would be happy to share our slide decks and literature with you!

Executive Director, Community Justice Action Fund

Please join AMWA and the Chicago Health Collaborative 4 Black Lives (CHC4BL) for “The Criminalization of Patients in Medicine” on November 15th from 7-8pm ET. Our guest speaker is Mr. Greg Jackson, the Executive Director of Community Justice Action Fund, and he will be sharing his powerful story and unique experiences with firearm violence prevention advocacy and policy. He will speak to his own experience as a victim of gun violence and his Invest In Us initiative. Register below for this event as part of our series Gun Violence Literacy for Health Professionals.

Time Article on Mr. Jackson’s experience with racism in medicine “Shot By a Stranger, Treated Like a Criminal”: https://time.com/6103401/hospitals-racism-black-patients/

AMWA Partnership with AFFIRM

The AFFIRM is committed to ending the epidemic of gun violence through research, innovation and evidence-based practice. They have the expertise, the workforce, and the collective will of medicine to get it done. In addition to AMWA, AFFIRM has 41,000 letter signatories and ten partner organizations.

Here are 4 things AMWA and our members can do to help NOW:

  1. Donate to fund our research. Our first grants were just released, and every dollar enables research that otherwise would not be possible, to change the path of this epidemic.
  2. Check out our Facebook and Twitter pages.
  3. Sign and share our open letter.
  4. Write a perspective piece or commentary for our webpage, to help increase the impact of the #ThisIsOurLane discussion. Let us know if this interests you and we’ll send you our guidelines.

Please share widely, and let AFFIRM know if you would like to be added to their email list so you can stay up to date on their work! For additional information, there are resources on AFFIRM’s webpage.