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The AMA recently established a Consortium on Minority Affairs to increase minority representation in medical schools and within AMA, and improve the health status of minorities.
According to APA member Clifford Moy, M.D., who was appointed to the consortium’s governing committee last fall, "We will be examining other issues relevant to minorities, including affirmative action, facilitating board certification of minority physicians, and the race variable in minority medical research. We also plan to meet with representatives of the American Medical Accreditation Program to discuss preparing minority physicians to serve on managed care panels."
To increase awareness of minority health issues, the governing committee plans to develop a clearinghouse that will be accessible to consortium participants on the Internet, said Moy, a consultant to APA’s Council on National Affairs and a member of the AMA’s Section Council on Psychiatry.
The consortium replaces AMA’s Advisory Committee on Minority Physicians, a group that studied the needs of minority physicians.
Reports show that ethnic minorities continue to lag behind the majority population in access to medical treatment and preventive care. Minority physicians represent less than 10 percent of today’s U.S. physician workforce, according to an article in the December 1, 1997, American Medical News.
Moy observed that representatives from various national minority medical groups serve on the nine-member governing committee, including the National Medical Association, the National Hispanic Medical Association, and the Association of American Indian Physicians.
The governing committee will make a progress report on implementing its goals to the AMA’s Board of Trustees in June.
Moy stated that AMA members can join the consortium at no charge and non-AMA members on a one-year trial basis at no charge. Consortium participants will communicate with each other primarily via e-mail on the Internet, noted Moy.
Interested APA members should call (312) 464-4392 for more information.