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Health
Policy
The
AMA Health Policy Task Force can be your forum to discuss current
issues in health policy and help make change in the political
arena. Organized medicine influences our lawmakers, and being
informed about health policy will affect the way medicine is practiced
in the future. Issues like medical liability reform, medical
student indebtedness, resident work hour reform, and the uninsured will
affect us as students, and as future physicians. This task force
will educate students about the health policy issues in medicine,
encourage students to take action by attending conferences, writing
their elected officials, and helping set AMA’s legislative agenda, and
help increase leadership skills by offering all members the opportunity
to get involved.
Ronald McDonald House Task Force
This task force cooks at least 4 meals
per year for the local Ronald McDonald House on Washington
Heights. The idea behind Ronald McDonald House is simple: provide
a “home-away-from-home” for families of seriously ill children who are
receiving treatment at nearby hospitals. Accommodations can be
hard to come by for families of children who have to travel great
distances to get the medical attention they need; options are often
limited to costly hotels or unforgiving hospital chairs and benches.
The Ronald McDonald House provides a comfortable, supportive
alternative for these families. It serves as a temporary residence near
University Hospital where family members can sleep, eat, relax and find
support from other families in similar situations. In return, families
are asked to make a donation ranging from $5 to $20 per day; if that
isn’t possible, their stay is free.
Participating in this task force
would entail meeting at 4:30pm at the Ronald McDonald House and
preparing and serving a well-balanced meal at 6pm for the families
living in the house. One can participate as much or as little as
is feasible, and any help is appreciated.
Community Service
The community service task force provides
volunteering and service opportunities throughout the year. These are
great opportunities to become involved in and make an impact in your
local community. Past events have included the Halloween Canned
Food Drive, Dicken Elementary Science Night, Medstart Child Advocacy
Fair, and Hope Clinic Patient Awareness Programs. And of course, we are
always open to new ideas and offer fun leadership opportunities for
those interested in organizing such events.
Ethics/Professionalism
The ethics/professionalism taskforce primarily
focuses on ethical issues that may arise during the practice of
medicine. The task force facilitates about four lunch discussions
during the school year. These lunch discussions take the format of a
small group in which a particular case will be discussed. In the
presence of a moderator, students attending the lunch will be given the
opportunity to discuss the pros and cons in a case and will be asked to
come up with ideas as to how to approach an issue and what decision
they will make and the reasons for making that decision if faced with a
similar situation. Since the presented cases are usually cases that
happened in the past, it gives us as medical students the opportunity
in a small group setting and a friendly environment to start an
important process of thinking through and discussing ethical issues
that we may face in our future practice. In some instances at the end
of the discussions, the students are then informed of how the issue was
resolved in the actual case.
Technology
The
goal of the AMA Technology Task Force is to introduce medical students
to the various technologies that are involved in today's medicine. It
aims to improve medical student's understanding of how new technologies
have shaped medicine in the past and in the future. It also aims to
promote medical student appreciation of the complexity of various
medical technologies involved in the diagnosis and treatment of
disease. In previous years, we have held lectures by professors
on topics such as “The Future of MRI” and gone on field trips to
explore the Univ. of Michigan air ambulance service, Survival
Flight. This coming year, we hope to bring in more guest lectures
(from both the medical campus and the engineering campus), organize
tours of technological installations within the medical school, and
provide resources for medical students to learn more about medical
technologies, as well as visit survival flight again. Anyone
interested in exploring various topics of medical technology are
encourage to attend these sessions and to join the taskforce.
Darwinian
Medicine
The
Darwinian Medicine task force is a forum for exploring the important insights
that evolutionary biology can lend to medical research and practice. In
addition to bringing in speakers, the Darwinian Medicine task force
also holds regular discussion groups where faculty, medical students,
and other members of the University community review current literature
in this exciting area.
IM
Sports
One
of the best things about being a med student is that we always do well
in IM sports. If you like football, broomball, innertube water polo,
basketball, volleyball, softball, soccer, etc, then pay attention: This
task force is responsible for helping you set your IM team up,
collecting money to participate, and reminding you of application
deadlines. We encourage everyone to get involved with a team and have
some fun.
Art
Outreach
Art
outreach is a program that unites med students with inpatient children
at Mott Hospital. About once a month, we get together with the kids for
about 2 hours to have a good time, create some beautiful art, and give
them a fun encounter with medical students. Projects can range from
window painting to doll-making. No talent is required, just willingness
to spend some quality time with kids and make the occasional
mess.
International
Health
The
international task force is focused on raising awarness of global health
issues and participation international projects and works. This may be
achieved through panels, speakers, film, and art mediums as well as
through cooperation with other international organizations and groups.
Ideally, trhe task force will work with other student groups and
faculty to provide an organizational structure that enhances existing
student activities and facilitates the development of new student
projects.
Medical
Journal Club
The
journal club meets regularly to discuss a recent article of general
medical interest. The format will be interactive and casual,
while the focus will be on the patients more than molecules. Take
a break from the basic science, and get a jump on clinical medicine.
Business
A
few years ago I read an article that dealt with life after medical
school. The main focus was what areas medical students were well
trained in and what needed help. Almost 70% of those students polled
said that their weakest area was the business of medicine. Most of the
graduated medical students wished that they had more training in
business. In addition, my father is a physician in Grand Rapids and
takes care of the business of his practice. Other docs in his practice
suggested once that they invest all of their money in one area, a
concept I think we can all agree is just flawed.
As a
result I am interested in convening a task force with this focus.
I intend to deal with issues such as the problem with Medicaid lowering
payments to a point where overhead cannot be met, how to invest to keep
a private practice in good financial ground, etc.
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