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Join the AMA Women Physicians Congress
Michelle Campbell, MD
JAMA. 1998;280:670.
In June 1997, the American Medical Association (AMA) formed the AMA Women Physicians Congress (WPC) to provide physicians and medical students with a forum to discuss the health and professional concerns of female physicians and medical students. Membership in the WPC is free and open to all AMA members—women physicians, women medical students, and all physicians interested in women's issues. Physicians and medical students who are not AMA members can join the Congress on an introductory basis for 1 year. The WPC's goals are to:
- Provide women physicians and medical students with a forum for mentoring, networking, and sharing experiences and information.
- Monitor trends and emerging issues that will affect women in the medical profession.
- Enhance AMA advocacy on policies that affect women physicians by advising AMA leadership and staff on policies and programs of concern to women in medicine.
- Increase the percentage of women physicians in leadership and senior management positions in organized medicine, academia, and the medical profession.
- Facilitate the professional progress of women physicians through leadership development, education, and training.
- Increase the membership, participation, and retention of women physicians in the AMA and their specialty societies.
- Foster collaboration between the AMA, the American Medical Women's Association, women physician specialty organizations, national women's health groups, and other organizations with similar concerns.
- Assist physicians in balancing professional and family responsibilities.
- Highlight and advance the women's health agenda.
The WPC Governing Committee is actively working to increase communications with all WPC members. The Governing Committee has asked each state medical association to appoint a member as its liaison officer to the WPC. The liaison officer will serve as a resource on relevant women physicians' issues at the national, state, and local levels and will help direct the future of the WPC.
The WPC also maintains contact with its members through blast e-mails. Any members with e-mail addresses are automatically subscribed to this service. The WPC's activities are featured on the AMA Women Physicians Web page, which will soon be expanded to include profiles of individual members' accomplishments and activities. If you have information that might be of interest to WPC members, please contact Phyllis Kopriva, Director, Women in Medicine and Minority Physician Services by e-mail at phyllis_kopriva{at}ama-assn.org or by telephone at (312) 464-5622.
Our objectives are those of all physicians; we all have female patients and colleagues and deal with women's health issues. Many of us also have friends, relatives, and acquaintances who are interested in pursuing medicine as a career and need guidance and mentoring. This group can be your advocate on these key issues. I encourage you to join today and let us represent you.
Resident Physicians Section Liaison, AMA-WPC
Diagnostic Radiology, Nashville, Tenn
Prepared by Gloria Robertson, Department of Resident Physician Services, American Medical Association.
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