Congratulations to the UB AMA-MSS Chapter!

We are proud to announce that on March 12th, the Medical Society of the State of New York (MSSNY) awarded the UB American Medical Association Medical Student Section (AMA-MSS) two honorable awards: Chapter of the Year and the Recruitment Award for NY State!

It is officially the tenth consecutive year for our chapter to receive the Recruitment Award! On average we recruit over 75% of the incoming first year medical class to join the AMA - a number that is significantly higher than other NY medical schools. The Chapter of the Year award was a great achievement. The past e-board, led by co-presidents Joanna Lim and Gaurav Rao, successfully held a full year of events. Some of the most notable accomplishments include a Halloween for Children with Diabetes Party, Miles for a Healthier Life Style, and passing a student-written resolution to decrease the price disparity between healthy and unhealthy foods (which is currently being lobbied for in Washington, D.C.).

A new e-board was recently elected and has taken off with a promising start. For example, Linda Wong is leading a Worldscopes Project, CJ Cancino was recently elected to state recruitment chair, and Lauren Gluck is serving as an Alternate Delegate on the state level. We have many new goals set. We plan to focus more on state policy, keeping an updated website, addressing minority issues (such as human trafficking), and simply filling the big shoes left by our predecessors. Several new e-board positions were created to help our more widespread goals for the next year, including Minority Issues Community Liaison, Worldscopes Project Leader, and AMA Student Advisor. There are several upcoming events planned in April so check the website frequently to keep yourself updated!

Please read the recent article about our UB AMA-MSS chapter on the SMBS website: http://medicine.buffalo.edu/news_and_events.host.html/content/shared/smbs/news/2011/03/ama-mss-awards.detail.html

Website Updates!

Checkout the new tab above titled "Upcoming Events." The website will be updated frequently to keep you up-to-date with all UB AMA Events! There is also a link to the SUNY at Buffalo Event Calendar on the UB Polity Website in the Margin to the right.

NY to Fix Medicaid?

Monday night kicked off MSSNY's annual Lobby Day, an opportunity for doctors and medical students to meet with their lawmakers and discuss issues important to them. Important to us. At the ever exotic Hampton Inn in Albany, Monday night's event featured a Q&A with Dept. of Health Commissioner Dr. Nirav Shah and with a panel of state senators and assemblymen.

The two hours of discussion focused on Gov. Cuomo's Medicaid Redesign (MDR) plan, a multi-hit effort to reform managed care and medical liability in order to cut costs and improve patient care. If passed, the reforms would reach the NYS Medicaid population of about 5 million, which includes half of all children in NY and about a quarter of the adults. (In the words of Dr. Ettinger, WOW!)

Tort reform -- the whole liability issue -- was the lynch pin of the evening. Not a bad move, since NY has the highest medical malpractice insurance rates in the country. All the panelists seemed to favor the MDR reforms, at least theoretically, although not all believed the proposals would pass through the state legislature. Say they do pass: We'll get caps on moneys awarded in lawsuits and a stricter scope of what is considered malpractice -- "so physicians can practice without the fear of litigation."

The evening's moderator, MSSNY Speaker of the House Dr. Jerome Cohen, gave the organization's bottom line: MSSNY will support MDR only if liability reform proposals remain intact. He stressed that "liability reform equals Medicaid reform." Doctors can't improve quality of and access to care if they keep practicing such defensive medicine -- while worrying if they'll even get reimbursed for their efforts.

So, check out the Medicaid Redesign proposals here. What do you think?

MSSNY Webcast Open Forum

This coming Monday, March 7, from 5:30 to 7:30 pm, MSSNY is webcasting its Open Forum.

This will be a great opportunity to watch a Q&A focused on issues that we care about as medical students and future physicians: Managed care, medical liability, public health, and so much more. Invited speakers include Gov. Andrew Cuomo as well as key leaders from the state Assembly and Senate.

All AMA members are welcome and encouraged to attend. The AMA has organized a broadcast location at the Erie County Medical Society at 1317 Harlem Rd, Buffalo.
OR tune in on your home computer here: http://www.nystv.com/mssny/index.cfm (make sure to have Flash installed).
Note: To watch at home, you might have to click on the link a bit in advance, MSSNY will send you a direct link after you "log in."

However you choose to participate, it should be a good discussion about a lot of important topics!