Example Of Research Paper On American Medical Association

The webpage for the American Medical Association (AMA, 2015) includes a wide array of information for the medical community: medical students, interns, residents and specialists. It is possible to get an annual membership for $420 for physicians. When in the first year of practice, it costs $210 and for the second year of practice $315. For retired physicians it costs $84. For residents and fellows the price is $45 and for medical students it is $20. The benefits of the annual membership also vary according to the level, but they all share unlimited access to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) network, continuing medical education (CME) activities, discounts and resources from several providers such as Mercedes-Benz, Hyatt, Hertz, etc., and practice support tools and kits.
Medical ethics is an area where the Ethics Group works. The Ethics Group is an important division of the AMA. Their objective is to improve patient care and the health of the general public while examining and promoting medical professionalism. The Ethics Group is also responsible for contributing to establish ethical policies, develop educational programs, and pursue scholarly research of bioethical issues that are commonly found in daily practice. Some of these topics are abortion, end-of-life care, artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization, surrogate models, torture, clinical investigation, DNA databanks in genomic research, commercial use of human tissue, gene therapy, organ donation and transplantation, inter-professional relations, hospital administration issues, fees and charges, professional rights and responsibilities, etc.
Professionals are encouraged to continue their medical education throughout their careers through continuing medical education (CME) activities. According to the AMA website, CME activities help physicians ensure that they serve patients to the best of their abilities and live up to professional standards of excellence. Medicine is certainly a lifelong learning career. The AMA website recommends physicians to select high quality activities and appropriate for medical education, choose activities that comply with ethical guidelines and professional standards, claim the credit according to the extent of the participation in the activity, and to decline subsidies offered by commercial entities other than the physician’s employer. The CME activities program is not only directed at physicians, but also at medical students. Nevertheless, the webpage is not very informative about the requirements needed to keep the member’s credentials current.
The AMA website describes the medical licensure process as challenging. It is possible to get an initial licensure or a second one in another state. In order to guide physicians through this process, the AMA has published an annually revised book called State Medical Licensure Requirements and Statistics 2014 (AMA Store, 2015), which provides complete, authoritative and state-by-state licensure information. It is helpful for personal reference, research and credentialing. Although the website fails to explicitely state the steps required during the licensing process, it does provide some rules to follow to save time and money on the process, have documents prepared (e.g. resumé or curriculum vitae), avoid problems due to providing incorrect or inaccurate information, especially if derogatory, and remain patient throughout the whole process. Physicians are advised to wait a period of at least 60 days between the time they submit a complete application for a medical license, and the moment when that license is actually granted. This time is considered to be longer for foreign physicians. It is also useful to know that the majority of applications are received between April and September. However, as complicated, bureaucratic or cumbersome
as this process might be, if the physician actively collaborates with the licensing board, it should not be an unpleasant experience.

References

American Medical Association (AMA) website. (2015). Retrieved February 7, 2015 from http://www.ama-assn.org/ama
AMA Store (2015). Retrieved February 7, 2015 from https://commerce.ama-assn.org/store/catalog/productDetail.jsp?product_id=prod2420007&navAction=push#usage-tab