American Medical Association (AMA)

Organization

Definition: The largest voluntary association of physicians in the United States, with most of its members engaging directly in the practice of medicine.

Key terms:

Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME): the organization that promotes and accredits continuing education for physicians, which the AMA sponsors

Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME): the council that accredits, as of 2014, approximately 9,600 physician residency programs at approximately 700 institutions; it is sponsored by the AMA and four other organizations

House of Delegates: the representative body that decides official policy and action on behalf of the AMA membership; state medical societies are allocated most of the delegate positions in the house, since 90 percent of all physicians affiliate with them, while medical specialty societies, military and other federal service groups, and five special sections also are given representation

Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME): an organization formed by the AMA and the Association of American Medical Colleges to set standards and accredit all US and Canadian medical schools offering MD degrees

Role in the United States

Since its inception, the American Medical Association (AMA) has worked to improve the credibility of medicine as a profession in the United States. The AMA helped to shape and develop the physician licensing system used now in every state. Through the auspices of various accreditation bodies that it sponsors, such as the LCME, ACGME, and ACCME, the AMA monitors medical education programs to ensure that they continue to meet high standards. The AMA established a professional code of ethics for physicians and revises it periodically to guide physicians through the ever-changing health care environment. The AMA Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs regularly issues interpretations of the principles of medical ethics; the council can censure, suspend, or expel a physician who violates the code of ethics. The Journal of the American Medical Association (or JAMA) was first published in July, 1883, and is now the world's most widely circulated medical journal. The AMA also publishes ten medical specialty journals and the weekly American Medical News. In addition, the AMA produces and distributes press releases, video news releases, and radio and television news programs.

The AMA advocates a “patient's bill of rights,” which supports patient autonomy, dignity, confidentiality, and ongoing access to needed medical care. The AMA believes that the practice of medicine should be based on sound scientific principles, which are promulgated in JAMA and in the many specialty journals that it sponsors and publishes. The AMA also houses one of the nation's largest medical libraries, subscribes to more than 150 computer databases, and maintains comprehensive computer files on all physicians and medical students in the United States.

Guidelines for Health

The AMA acknowledged early in its development the role that it should play in promoting the improvement of public health. Among the public health initiatives that the AMA has sponsored are the clear labeling of poison containers, early childhood screening for hearing and vision problems, the inspection of milk to ensure its quality, the installation of seat belts in automobiles, low tolerance in state laws regarding drunk driving, and the banning of tobacco product advertisement. More recently, the AMA was among the first professional associations to advocate significant reform of the American health care delivery system, especially to respond to the needs of uninsured and underinsured people. The communications arm of the AMA produces services and products designed to increase public knowledge regarding significant health care issues and medical care advances.

Perspective and Prospects

Nathan Smith Davis, a medical doctor and a delegate of the New York State Medical Society, introduced resolutions that led to the holding of the first national medical convention in May, 1846. Davis's tireless leadership during the first convention enabled the establishment of the American Medical Association in May, 1847. Davis also served as an AMA president and the first editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The original AMA constitution set out several enduring principles for the organization. The AMA would be governed by representatives elected from the membership, and officers would serve only one year. The purposes of the AMA would be to advance medical knowledge, to work to improve medical education, to establish high ethical and practice standards, to encourage the formation and maintenance of state and local medical societies, and to work against medical quackery.

To ensure that the association speaks with a unified voice, the AMA has used, since its founding, the principle of representative democracy. State medical societies are entitled to a voting delegate and an alternate for each one thousand members; this represents the overwhelming majority of voting delegates. Other organizations, such as the Veterans Administration and medical schools sections, are also given one delegate and one alternate. The delegates form the AMA House of Delegates, which meets twice a year to evaluate and decide on policy issues. To prepare properly for a meeting of the House of Delegates, reference committees consider and hold open hearings on important medical issues, such as testing for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The reference committees then make recommendations to the House of Delegates, which often decides hundreds of policies during each session.

The AMA is a powerful lobbyist in Washington, DC, where it seeks to influence national legislation affecting the delivery of medical care. Among the issues it has lobbied for in the 2010s are an end to "personal belief" exemptions to childhood vaccinations and a ban on advertisements for prescription drugs. It also represents the interests of its members in important cases brought before various courts.

For Further Information:

American Medical Association. Caring for the Country: A History and Celebration of the First 150 Years of the American Medical Association. Chicago: Author, 1997. Print.

Baker, Robert B., ed. The American Medical Ethics Revolution: How the AMA's Code of Ethics Has Transformed Physicians' Relationships to Patients, Professionals, and Society. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1999. Print.

Baker, Robert B. Before Bioethics: A History of American Medical Ethics from the Colonial Period to the Bioethics Revolution. New York: Oxford UP, 2013. Print.

Campion, Frank. The AMA and U.S. Health Policy Since 1940. Chicago: Chicago Review P, 1984. Print.

Fishbein, Morris. A History of the American Medical Association, 1847 to 1947. Philadelphia: Saunders, 1947. Print.