Dean Chapman named chair of AMA's Council on Medical Education
Dr. John E. Chapman, Dean of the School of Medicine, has been elected to chair the Council on Medical Education (CME), the medical education arm of the board of trustees and House of Delegates of the American Medical Association.
The AMA is the largest association of physicians in the world, attracting a membership of about half the physicians in the United States.
The board of trustees is the governing board of the AMA and does its work through several councils including the CME, the Council of Ethical and Judicial Affairs, the Constitution and Bylaws Council, the Council on Medical Service and the Council on Scientific Affairs.
The CME is the oldest of the councils and has the responsibility for the policy, development, coordination and direction of the AMA's undergraduate and graduate medical focus.
Chapman has already served an unprecedented three terms on the CME. His stint as chair will last one year.
He said it is challenging being elected chair of the CME at a time when medical students face an uncertain future in a volatile health care environment.
"Between recommending what to do in medical education, generally, and also specifically, the council is involved in the full spectrum of education," Chapman said. "The council is integral to every facet of medical education, from the time somebody applies to medical school until they retire."
The CME has several areas of responsibility within the AMA, Chapman said. The council advises the board in matters of quality and experience of physician trainees and recommends the appointment of members of various committees.
The CME recommends the appointment of half of the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), the accreditation body of all medical schools in the United States.
And the CME also recommends appointments to the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), the residency counterpart of the LCME, and half of the appointments of the Residency Review Committees (RRC), which review specific residencies; and the Liaison Committee on Specialty Boards (LCSB), the organization that approves the establishment of all specialty boards.
"We're in a period of very rapid change in relationship not only to what is taught, but how it's taught and learning expectations," Chapman said.
"Medical students today must learn about HMOs and PPOs the same way that medical students of the past had to know how to write prescriptions. It's an exciting time, a pivotal time, a time of change. Anytime there's change like this, there's an enormous opportunity to contribute."