AMA-MSS REGION 4
SUMMIT

On January 25-26th 2020, the American Medical Association (AMA) - Medical Student Section (MSS) held the Region 4 meeting at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia.

We had a great turn out from medical schools all across Georgia as well as medical students from across Region 4, from Puerto Rico to the Carolinas.

This was a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with medical students from previous AMA conferences as well as a great event to educate ourselves on the current news regarding the changes taking place in our health care today.

AMA Region 4 Meeting: Text

SUMMARY OF EVENTS

By Kay Bush (Mercer)

PUBLIC HEALTH ADVOCACY BREAKOUT

“If biology is a set of rules by which our cells make complex decisions about scarce resources in our bodies, politics is just a set of rules by which our communities make complex decisions about scarce resources in society. And you know, it’s not the biology that usually shapes who gets sick and who doesn’t.” - Dr. Abdul El Sayed

I loved this particular quote because I realized how important it is that we guide our policies to match the needs of our communities. - Kay Bush

HEALTH EQUITY

We learned the importance of normalizing the conversation of health equity via training and education programs. While social determinants of health inequities addresses larger policies and structural contents, most of our work addresses public social care, needs, and risk factors on a smaller scale. This work may contribute to SDOH down the pipeline, but is a huge factor in public health on an individual basis. Healthcare providers should be knowledgeable on issues of health equity to prevent internal biases that may contribute to health inequities.

FOCUS ON IMPACT

Improving health outcomes and closing the outcomes gap between groups, while also maintaining our Code of Ethics to not do any further harm.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A DOCTOR?

What does it mean to take care of people? We all have to figure it out for ourselves. Your power as medical students is that you’re a collective, and the risk is lower as a whole. As a student, you are paying money to the school, so speak for what changes you want to see and use that power. The school will have to respond. This message was so powerful and made me think about my privilege as a medical student. The power that I have through my education provides an opportunity to speak on important issues. I believe that as medical students, we have been given the platform to use our voices, but to know how to do so effectively is a skill that must be cultivated.

AMA Region 4 Meeting: List

AMA Region 4 Meeting: Gallery

AMA Region 4 Meeting: Testimonials

What type of doctors do we want to be? This was asked of us by Aletha Maybank, MD, MPH, AMA Chief Health Equity Officer. I may not have a finite answer, and perhaps, I never will, but the simple fact of asking me this question made me feel empowered. Empowered that I am in control of the way I choose to practice medicine whether that be person by person in a clinic setting or on a national scale as an advocate. I often feel that these AMA and MAG conferences are all talk and no action. They attempt to empower us, move us to write resolutions, but we rarely see the effects of our work. I appreciated that this Region 4 meeting showed student success through AMA to bring about change. The idea of affecting change on a global scale is the reason I came to medicine and is exactly the type of doctor I want to be.

Ashley Lall
Mercer Macon MS2

We, as medical students, greatly appreciate Morehouse SOM as well at the AMA-MSS Region 4 Chair members for making this event possible. Also, thank you to the MAG MSS Chair, Ashley McNeal (Mercer Macon MS3) as well as the MAG-MSS Executive board and Dr. Clark for welcoming all the students to the meeting.

On behalf of Mercer University, we had a great outcome of students from both, Macon and Savannah, campuses. This was very inspiring to see students take out time to learn more about health advocacy in our country. As a way to demonstrate how the AMA Region 4 meeting has impacted us as students, I requested that each student write a short reflection of their experience from the meeting. I hope you enjoy reading everyone.

Last but not least, congratulations to the all the Georgia medical students for winning the poster competition!