AMA Adopts Resolutions Relevant to Residents FREE

At its Annual Meeting in June, the AMA House of Delegates adopted several actions of interest to resident and fellow physicians. In the last 2 Resident Physician Forum columns, we presented the adopted actions regarding graduate medical education funding and residency education and supervision. This week's column presents actions that were either introduced by the AMA Resident and Fellow Section, or are otherwise of interest to residents and fellows. A complete summary of all House of Delegates actions is available through the AMA Web page at http://www.ama-assn.org/meetings/public/annual99/reports/reports.htm.

Formation of a National Negotiating Organization asked the AMA to form a national organization to support the development and operation of local negotiating units as an option for employed physicians and for resident and fellow physicians who are authorized to bargain collectively. This initiative is separate from the AMA's efforts to support the development of house staff organizations at institutions. Both of these initiatives are major priorities for the AMA; we will continue to report on the progress of both initiatives.

Alternatives to the Federation of State Medical Boards Recommendations on Licensure addresses recommendations on resident licensure issued by the Federation of State Medical Boards. The Resident and Fellow Section has many concerns about these recommendations, some of which were discussed in the February 3, 1999, Resident Forum column. The adopted report makes several recommendations that balance the need to prevent unqualified physicians from practicing medicine with the educational needs of qualified residents.

Addressing the Disruptive Physician asked the AMA to identify and study physician behavior that is disruptive to high-quality patient care, define the term disruptive physician, and disseminate guidelines for managing the disruptive physician. This resolution stemmed from a report written by the Resident and Fellow Section about behavioral and communication problems in hospitals and other health care settings.

Taxation of Student Loan Repayment Programs asked the AMA to use Senate bill S.288 and House of Representatives bill R.324 and other legislative means to achieve federal income tax exemption for funds received through all state and federal loan repayment programs designed to improve physician supply in underserved areas. This would make it easier for rural and other underserved areas to attract physicians.

Implementation of the AMA-ME Number asks the AMA to encourage pharmacies, insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, and state Medicaid programs to use the AMA-assigned medical education numbers for physician identification instead of physicians' Drug Enforcement Agency numbers. In addition, the AMA was asked to expedite assigning AMA medical education numbers to every US and international medical graduate who is in a US graduate medical education program.

We would like to thank all the residents and other AMA members who testified or supported the interests of residents and fellows at the 1999 Annual Meeting. Their hard work on testimony coordination and preparation was greatly appreciated and made for a successful meeting.