I was pleased to see a front-page article about the recent changes I proposed for the governing structure of the AMA. If all APA members who are AMA members vote in the poll, we will be able to increase our influence in the AMA significantly.

We must make the case, however, for why this is so crucial to psychiatrists. Slowly, but surely, Dr. Harold Eist and many others have been working to convince the AMA to put psychiatry's issues on the front burner. Look at how much better we can do when Dr. Johnson, Dr. Bristow, and Dr. Dickey back up our demands for parity (a radiologist, an internist, and a family practitioner speaking on behalf of all of medicine)!

When we go to the Health Care Financing Administration to change the RUC [Relative-Value Update Committee] when we fight for real privacy guarantees, when we fight to maintain true practice autonomy, isn't it great to have the rest of medicine behind psychiatry?

Now is the opportunity to show the AMA that psychiatrists will turn out in full numbers to support the APA leadership in expanding the recognition for the issues important to psychiatry and further recruiting the backing of the whole AMA.

It is a simple but vital thing for APA members to do: Return your ballot!

Wayne Blackmon, M.D.

Alternate Delegate to the AMA

(Psychiatric News, November 1, 1996)