US Medical Students Adopt Policy Condemning DTC Advertising; Urge Improved Resident Work Hours Regulations

Main Category: Medical Students / Training
Article Date: 14 May 2005 - 14:00 PDT

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The American Medical Student Association (AMSA), the nation's largest, independent medical student organization marks its 55th anniversary by adopting unique policy at its annual meeting, condemning drug industry-sponsored DTC advertising and supporting medical school curriculum that prohibits pharmaceutical industry representatives from marketing to medical students.

AMSA's House of Delegates also adopted the following policy:

Nutrition: AMSA supports the use of any revenues from taxes on sugar sweetened beverages to be used for nutrition education and advertising of healthy foods.

Open Access Publishing: AMSA supports the creation of a centralized and comprehensive national registry of all publicly and privately funded clinical trials involving drugs, biological products or devices regardless of the outcome of the trial. AMSA supports the Public Library of Science as a model of open access publishing.

Resident Work Hours: The resident duty hour regulations as adopted by the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education are currently insufficient to ensure maximized patient and resident safety and health. AMSA will support and work toward the implementation of improved regulations, including those at the federal and state level, which will regulate resident work hours with the intent of providing a better standard of care for all patients and more humane working conditions for residents.

Universal Health Care: AMSA believes that a national health insurance program would be the most equitable and effective method to ensuring universal access to health care for all people living in America. In regards to health-care reform, AMSA supports other forms of comprehensive local, state and national health reform to address immediate gaps in access to care.

Leana Wen, a fourth year student at Washington University School of Medicine, has been elected National President and assumes her responsibilities in early May.

The 55-year old organization also elected the following national student leaders:

-- Vice President: Jay Bhatt, third-year student at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine

-- Treasurer: Gregory A. Skochko, fourth-year student at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine

-- Senior Trustee-at-Large: Kara N. Durand, fourth-year student at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

-- Action Committee Trustee: Mundeep Kainth, fourth-year student at New York College of Osteopathic Medicine

Medical students working in the national office of AMSA will be:

-- Director of Student Programming: Annastasia Kovscek, recent graduate of Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine

-- Jack Rutledge Fellow on Universal Health Care: Kao-Ping Chua, fourth-year student at Washington University School of Medicine

-- Legislative Affairs Director: Chris McCoy, recent graduate from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

-- Global HIV/AIDS Fellow: New to the staff this year, Tina Wu, third-year student at the University of California at Los Angeles School of Medicine will focus the association's efforts on behalf of the global HIV/AIDS pandemic.

For more information on AMSA's policies, please visit: www.amsa.org/about/ppp/index.cfm. For the entire 2005-2006 Board of Trustees, please visit: http://www.amsa.org/about/bot.cfm.

About the American Medical Student Association

The American Medical Student Association (AMSA), with more than a half-century history of medical student activism, is the oldest and largest independent association of physicians-in-training in the United States. Founded in 1950, AMSA is a student-governed, non-profit organization committed to representing the concerns of physicians-in-training. With over 50,000 members, including medical and premedical students, residents and practicing physicians, AMSA is committed to improving medical training as well as advancing the profession of medicine. AMSA focuses on four strategic priorities, including universal healthcare, disparities in medicine, diversity in medicine and transforming the culture of medical education. To learn more about AMSA, our strategic priorities, or joining the organization, please visit us online at http://www.amsa.org.

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