Shame on the American Medical Association
Victor Frankl did his own mental health reframing in the concentration camp, but it was the allied forces who freed him and the other prisoners. Our side never contemplated sending therapists to help the Jews cope with their captivity. But that is exactly what the AMA is doing.
Physicians today are captives of the computer systems that regulate their every move, monitor their performance and restrict their right to be off duty by bombarding them with an uninterrupted flow of data.
I joined the AMA in residency, in part to buy discounted insurance through them and in part to belong to an organization I thought would protect my interest. In retrospect, 40 years later, it is clear that they never did.
Do we need a new organization to take their place, since they have obviously failed to protect our interests? I believe we do.
This morning’s email newsletter headline almost made me choke on my coffee. Read it and weep.
A Country Doctor Writes: 
The AMA sold out physicians when they agreed to let Medicare set physician prices. No dentist or lawyer professional association allowed someone outside their organization to set prices. Then the AMA copyrighted all the coding for making claims. By all means it’s time to replace this organization with one which really works in physician best interest.
In residency 32 years ago I joined the AMA, ASIM and the ACP. I left the AMA in private practice because it did not protect my interests or assist any professional needs academically, politically or financially. Completely agree with Dr. D — our medical societies have failed to protect its members. The solution is to unite and support a society that has a clear mission statement for the future of doctors mental health.
I quit the AMA shortly after residency when I learned they were profiting from selling those cursed code books.
Me too!
The AMA’s RUC deliberately destroyed primary care in this country by devaluing cognitive services. They are not good people.
What does RUC stand for? I have been retired for two years. I still volunteer once a week, but it is in a DOD facility.
The RUC is a unique multispecialty committee dedicated to describing the resources required to provide physician services which the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) considers in developing Relative Value Units (RVUs).
I have heard of RVUs. But I don’t know what they are. I do not understand any of this. My mother would have called it gobbledygook. Is any other profession controlled by outside people like this? I imagine a lot of these committee members are not actually physicians. Have physicians thought of forming a union?