Transcript Resolution Writing 101 - University of Pittsburgh

Resolution Writing Workshop
February 22, 2006
Debbie Brooks, MS-II
UPSOM
Pittsburgh, PA
CHOOSE A TOPIC
• Pertinent to medical students, the AMAMSS, and the AMA?
• Internal - handle internal MSS business only
(ex/ restructuring MSS hierarchy)
• External - passed by both the AMA-MSS
HOD and physicians HOD (ex/ Children’s
diets in schools)
• Has someone written a resolution about
this issue before?
• Can these objectives be accomplished
without writing a resolution?
RESEARCH TOPIC
• Statistics, analysis, surveys and
commentaries, federal and state laws, etc.
• AMA Resources:
• AMA Policy Finder
•
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/noindex/category/11760.html
• MSS Digest of Policy Actions
•
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/15/digest_of_actions.pdf
• MSS Staff (e-mail)
• MEDLINE, PUBMED, Medical
Journals, etc
WRITING RESOLUTIONS
• Use the Resolution Template for
Submission
•
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/15/resolution_template.doc
• Follow the Resolution Checklist
•
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/12943.html
WRITING RESOLUTIONS
• Authors
• Single or co-authors
• Include the schools attended
• Introduced by: Roshni I. Thakore, Albert
Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva
University and Veena Kutty, Boston University
• Title
• Main issue addressed in the resolution
• Subject: Increasing Whole Grains in School
Children’s Diets
WRITING RESOLUTIONS
•
WHEREAS CLAUSES – IMPORTANT!!!
•
Describe the problem
•
Explain and support how the Resolved Clause(s) will
correct the problem
•
Follow a logical order
•
Quote and site relevant AMA and AMA-MSS policy
•
Will not be included in the official policy wording
•
Whereas, AMA policy D-440.980 (“Recognizing and
Taking Action in Response to the Obesity Crisis”)
states that the AMA shall “recommend measures to
better recognize and treat obesity as a chronic
disease”; and …
WRITING RESOLUTIONS
•
RESOLVED CLAUSES
•
•
•
•
This is the policy that will be adopted
Can stand on its own
Actionable request
Amendable
•
RESOLVED, that our AMA shall: (1)
recommend the incorporation of more whole
grain foods into the nutrition standards of K12 students…”
WRITING RESOLUTIONS
•
Fiscal Note
•
Do not include
•
MSS Staff will Evaluate after Submission
•
References
•
Cite sources of information at the end of
your resolution in an Appendix
•
List all AMA and MSS policies that support
and pertain to the resolution
SUBMITTING A RESOLUTION
• Be aware of deadlines
• Start working early
• Use the Resolution Template and Checklist on
the AMA Website
• Resolutions must be submitted ONLINE!
• Find more info on each meeting’s website on AMA site
Increasing Whole Grains in
School Children’s Diets
• Whereas:
• AMA has in the past stated that it will support evidencebased nutrition standards and it will recognize obesity in
adults and children as a major health problem
• Childhood obesity has increased 45% in the last decade
• Markers of obesity have been shown to decrease with an
increase in whole grain consumption
• Pediatric obesity can be lowered through diets containing
ample whole grains, vegetables and fruit
• Whole grains have a protective effect against diabetes
• Resolved:
• AMA shall recommend incorporation of whole grain foods
into nutrition standards for K-12 students
• AMA shall encourage school vendors to offer whole grain
options and replace white bread with a whole grain
alternative
Student Loan Forgiveness for
Volunteer Clinic Work
• Whereas:
• Students graduating in 2004: average $115,000 in debt
• National service programs offer repayment of loans in
exchange for service
• 45.8 million without health insurance
• Students may wish to serve the uninsured but not have
the uninterrupted period of time needed for national
service programs
• Resolved:
• AMA support establishment of a national program that
forgives all or part of student loan debt in exchange for
unpaid work in any clinic wishing to provide free
medical care to medically indigent persons.
Joint and Several Liability
Reform
• Whereas:
• Proportion of liability for each defendant is a matter decided
by the jury
• Joint and several liability is a rule that holds each defendant
in a case responsible for the entire amount of the plaintiff’s
damages
• It forces financially stable defendants to pay a sometimes
grossly disproportionate amount of money for the negligence
of others
• It encourages trial lawyers to target those with the “deepest
pockets” regardless of fault
• Study concluded that joint and several liability reform
reduced medical malpractice insurance premiums
• Abolishing the joint and several liability rule helps to ensure
that each defendant is held financially liable only for his
proportionate share of fault
Joint and Several Liability
Reform Cont…
• Proportionate liability has been proposed and
implemented in some states
• Proportionate rule states that the proportion of the
award owed by each defendant is the same as the
proportion of liability for that defendant as decided by
the jury
• State laws show a range of implementation of
proportionate liability
• Resolved:
• AMA encourage state legislatures to implement a legal
standard of proportionate liability in medical
malpractice awards and remove all forms of joint and
several liability
Resolution Writing Alternatives
• Write a letter to the AMA-MSS Governing
Council
• Research work being done by other
medical societies
• Work with state and county medical
societies
• Work with administration at your medical
school
• Co-author a resolution that someone else
is submitting
Resolution  Policy?
How to make it happen!
• State and Regional Caucuses
• Medical Student Section Assembly
Meeting
• Reference Committee
• AMA-MSS House of Delegates
• AMA House of Delegates
• OFFICIAL AMA POLICY!
State and Regional Caucuses
• Takes place before the MSS Assembly
Meeting
• Decide on state/regional stance on
resolutions
• Can speak on behalf of region > state >
chapter > individual
• Possible votes: accept as is, reject as is,
amend, refer, defer
Medical Student Section
Assembly Meeting
• Held 1 day before the AMA-MSS HOD meeting
(twice a year)
• One person from each licensed medical school
campus (both allopathic and osteopathic) is
selected as a delegate and one as an alternate
delegate
• National Medical Specialty Societies also provide
one delegate and one alternate delegate
• Vote on which resolutions to submit to the AMAMSS HOD meeting the next day
• Quorum of 25% of the Assembly with at least
10% of each region (PA = region 6)
Reference Committees
• All resolutions (except emergencies) must
first pass through a reference committee
• Research and debate a resolutions
implications:
• Past AMA and AMA-MSS policy
• Fiscal impact
• Research
• Propose amendments
AMA-MSS HOD Meeting
• 7 geographical regions
• Each region is entitled to proportional
representation
• 1 delegate and 1 alternate delegate per
2,000 active AMA members
• Resolutions that are adopted are sent to
the AMA HOD for final consideration
Questions?
Thank you!
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