The final entry from the AMSA Conference. Chris Maki reports

It is done, finished, time to go. Yes, the AMSA convention wrapped up today with the passing of many torches, from seasoned leaders on to fresh faces and from health care and social justice activists to eager medical students. There is a hint of nostalgia in the air as out-going leaders reminisce over the accomplishments of their tenure and the often intense friendships, forged between activist medical students around common ideals and shared vision, are separated as we travel back to our schools. This passing of the torch was no less dramatic than this morning’s address from former US Surgeon General, Dr. Joycelyn Elders. Before she even addressed the students, we were inspired: Dr. Elders is the first African American and second woman to hold this distinguished position. She rose to a standing ovation from the students. Here are her challenges to the upcoming leaders of US and indeed global health care:

• “You will be responsible for transforming our sick-care system to a health care system.”
• “The aim of the game is to keep people well!”
• “Health care is an investment, not an expense.”
• “We need to stop letting politicians, lawyers, and accountants run health care!”

She pointed out that the US is the richest nation with the most advanced care, yet 87% of the US health care dollar is spent on “sick-care” and only 3% is spent on prevention. There is not a system in place to adequately deliver this care, and that is the reason why the US consistently ranks poorly in many health indexes comparing nations’ health care systems. According to Dr. Elders, this health “(R)Evolution” AMSA advocates and that Elders sees as necessary must have the following charachteristics:
1. Prevention
2. Purpose Driven
3. Solution Oriented
4. Accessible
5. Affordable

This can be accomplished by being AWARE of the problem, ADVOCATING for a solution for your patients and the health care system, and taking whatever ACTION you can at any level.

So is this convention over? It could be. But for the group of international medical students that I have had the privilege to befriend over the last 5 days are all taking things back to their colleagues across the globe. Several were elected to national AMSA leadership positions; many are taking ideas for programming and projects back to their schools, and we all will continue to dialogue and share ideas about what we as physician-leaders can do to promote health and social justice in the populations we serve now and those we will serve in the future.

I hope this brief look at the 58^th annual AMSA convention has been informative. Thanks for the read, and I encourage all medical students to become involved in activism in whatever capacity you can. It is for our patients. I will end with something from Martin Luther King: ”The Greatest form of Injustice is the Inequity of Health Care.” 
Chris Maki: drippingice@gmail.com

             

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This entry was posted on Sunday, March 16th, 2008 at 9:29 pm and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can trackback from your own site.