Volume 7                                                                           Issue 1
Southeast News
News from the Southeastern Delegation to the AMA
Dear Colleagues

The June AMA meeting is coming up soon, but first our routine April Newsletter and the Washington Update.  We are pleased to have essays from Rich Deem at AMA and the offices of Senator Graham and Representative Rice.
 
We continue our Business Corner articles.  But this issue we have some new offerings.  We are running two essays in our new “Beyond the Stethoscope” feature, Hindsight by Dr. Dalton and an essay published by Dr. Imbeau in March about the history of Powerful Women.  We also are  initiating regular columns from both the Resident and Student Sections of AMA.  We hope to have articles run in these spots for each of our three regular SED Newsletter issues.  We thus ask for your help:  please submit appropriate articles for our new columns in the “Beyond the Stethoscope” slot and the Student and Resident slots.
 
We will all be together soon.  The May Newsletter issue will be devoted to the June AMA meeting.
 

Bill Clark, MD (GA), Chair, SE Delegation to AMA
Claudette Dalton, MD (VA), Vice Chair, SE Delegation to AMA
Greg Cooper, MD (KY), Immediate Past Chair, SE Delegation to AMA
John Poole, MD (NJ), Vice Chair-elect, SE Delegation to the AMA
Stephen Imbeau, MD (SC), Editor, Southeast News

Congressional Update
Senator Lindsey Graham  (R-South Carolina)


A Culture of Life
Recently, a few states have pushed forward laws at the state level which allow abortion on demand up to and during the birth of a child.

In my view, this is simply wrong. In late February, the Senate took an important vote on a bill to protect infants who survive attempted abortions .

Workforce Development and Trade will build on our Economic Success
Congressman Tom Rice  (R-South Carolina)

I came to Congress to restore American competitiveness and create opportunity for people who felt like they had been left behind. I knew the best way to achieve these goals was to reform our outdated tax code and limit the heavy hand of government in our everyday lives. I am proud that we passed pro-growth tax reform and regulatory reforms that have ushered in a new era of American prosperity.

Washington Update from the
American Medical Association

Health care was on voters’ minds during the 2018 elections. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation election tracking poll taken last fall, 71 percent of respondents said that health care would be “very important” in making their decision about who to vote for in Congress. The second most often mentioned issue was the economy and jobs, at 64 percent. When asked to choose the “most important” issue in making their voting decision, health care came in first at 30 percent.  




Business Corner
Asa C. Lockhart, MD, MBA

Health Care Debate: What Do the Terms Mean?

After recently making rounds on Capitol Hill during the NAC and visiting with our representatives, I pondered some of the terms floating around DC regarding the potential changes to our health-care system and was inspired by a Texas Medicine article with excerpts from Sarah Fontenot, with due recognition, to begin a series of articles for the Southeastern Delegation Newsletter. Some of the terms, in the purest form, sound different but often have degrees of overlap and frequently mean different things to different people, which may be a “good” thing for politicians as we enter the 2020 cycle for partisans on both sides of the debate. 


BEYOND THE STETHOSCOPE



Hindsight
Claudette Dalton, MD
Vice Chair, SE Delegation

Whenever I think back on my career in medicine, I wonder what—if anything—I should have done differently. I am “retired” now—although my son scoffs at the term—maybe it is more accurate to say I am no longer doing clinical work. But then, I have had several episodes of not doing clinical work. (OK, let’s be honest--I mostly have not done clinical work although I love it more than the administrative and academic work I have done. To get to know the real core of patients’ feelings and fears and triumphs is an honor and a blessing that I have not gotten enough of.) 


Published March 13, 2019 by SC Now and the Florence Moring News,
adapted by permission
Stephen A Imbeau, MD
Editor, Southeast News

Rise Up......Rise Up

You may not know, but many women of Power have marched across the historical Ages.

Many thousands of years ago, in early human history, sometime after the Biblical human beginning, Eve out maneuvered Adam, and even in their joint downfall wherein Adam stood willingly and resolutely at Eve’s side, only Eve was promised a male heir who would bring eventual Restoration, Salvation and Supremacy. Many of their descendants through Ham and Canaan developed matriarchal societies, some continuing to this very day.

Southeastern Student and Resident Section
From the Desk of Dr Claudette Dalton

Students and residents are among our most valuable resources and are the future of the AMA and the Southeastern Delegation. At recent meetings, the members of the SE delegation have noticed that while some of the states have excellent programs and resources for their students and residents, some others do not. To better support our students, delegation has initiated a long overdue Student and Resident Section!  We are starting with the students but hope to offer the same types of support to the residents in the very near future. And what types of support are we thinking about?

First, state medical society awareness of what students are attending the meetings. Some students come under the auspices of their medical or osteopathic school and struggle to find the money and time to fully engage in the meetings. Their states may or may not even know what students are attending. Do they need medical society support to either free up their schedules at the medical school or to fund their travel and housing? Is there staff support that medical societies could give the students? Do they meet with the state society caucuses? We hope to share models with those states who want to increase either their administrative or financial support of students. 


Finding Your Voice in Advocacy
Steph Lee, MD


My time with the AMA has been relatively new. Many members start their advocacy journey in medical school. It wasn’t until I started my second residency, in preventive medicine and public health, that I realized how important national and local advocacy is for physicians.

This past year has been a lot of firsts for me. I attended my first annual meeting last year and saw the impact residents can have on AMA policy. I then attended the interim meeting and submitted my first resolution on strategies for reducing burnout in medical trainees. I started representing resident and fellows on the South Carolina Medical Association (SCMA) Board of Trustees. As a board member, I attended my first press conference at the South Carolina statehouse on medical marijuana and met with local legislators.



For the latest information on issues, meeting dates, helpful resources and pictures from past events make sure to visit the SE Delegation to the AMA's website!
Southeastern Delegation to the AMA, Inc.
Karen A. Foy
Executive Director
371 Marshside Drive North
St. Augustine, FL 32080
405-410-7191