June 15 , 2006

 

2nd Anesthesiologist elected to AMA Board of Trustees plus others win council and section seats.

Building on its growing presence within the American Medical Association, ASA now has two ASA members on the AMA Board of Trustees, with the election of Joseph P. Annis, M.D., of Austin, Texas, to the AMA Board on June 14, 2006.  He joins ASA member Rebecca J. Patchin, M.D., of Riverside, California, who has been serving as an AMA Trustee since June 2003 when she became the first anesthesiologist in recent memory to be elected as an AMA Trustee. 

At the recent AMA Annual Meeting in Chicago, Dr. Patchin also was elected as Secretary of the AMA Board of Trustees.  She has announced her intention to run for re-election as AMA Trustee in 2007.

Two other ASA members also had successful bids for AMA elected positions.  C. Alvin Head, M.D., Augusta, Georgia, was re-elected to a second term on the AMA Council on Scientific and Public Health.  In the Young Physicians Section (YPS), Tripti C. Kataria, M.D., Chicago, Illinois, was elected as the YPS’s delegate to the AMA House of Delegates.  She succeeds another ASA member, Michael B. Simon, M.D., Wappingers Falls, New York, who completed his term as YPS Delegate at the conclusion of the AMA Annual Meeting.

ASA President Orin F. Guidry, M.D., said these ASA members, as well as several others who currently serve on various AMA councils and reference committees, exemplify the growth of ASA’s presence in organized medicine in recent years.  Furthermore, he noted that each of these anesthesiologists has also been active in ASA and their state component societies, helping to advance the practice of anesthesiology not only to their patients but to other medical colleagues as well.

“We all should be proud that these ASA members have put forward the effort and dedication to be a voice for our specialty, especially now when the house of medicine should stand together on so many different issues.  Anesthesiologists do have a voice, and it’s being heard louder and clearer than ever before,” Dr. Guidry said.