CHICAGO -- The first time I covered an AMA meeting, Ronald Reagan was president. That is significant for two reasons: at one point (after GE and before the White House), and it was a long, long time ago.
Now I'm back at the AMA and, as it turns out, things are not all that different. It is true that the AMA has embraced "paperless" meetings, so everything that used to be in a 10-pound binder is now accessible .
But the things one really associates with the AMA -- the speeches, the guys in matching blazers, the patriotism -- are all here. In place of a Marine Corps color guard presenting the flag, video screens now display Old Glory waving away, but every delegate's voice is raised singing the national anthem, and everyone knows all the words.
Best of all, people are still campaigning for the endless elected positions in the AMA: President, Speaker of the House, Vice-Speaker, Trustee, and an infinite array of seats on one of the myriad AMA Councils (Medical Services, Ethical and Judicial Affairs, Medicine and Public Health, etc).
An essential part of an AMA campaign is the candidate's giveaway: the branded trinkets designed to lure votes. This year, every delegate (and every person occupying a chair in the press section of the House of Delegates) received a large plastic bag labeled "House of Delegates Not Official Business" and adorned with the AMA logo and tag line: "Together we are stronger."
Inside my bag (and I think all bags had the same loot) were these items:
- A Snickers bar repacked with the brand "Sweet" from Donna Sweet, MD, a candidate for the Board of Trustees. The nutrition label told me that Sweet's daily value as a leader was 100%.
- "Stick with Cyndi" was the label on a pack of gum touting Cyndi Yag-Howard, MD, in her run for re-election to the Council on Constitution and Bylaws.
- A bag of peanuts from the Medical Society of Virginia (no candidate listed).
- Earbuds promising Gregory Tarasidis, MD, is "Ready to Listen" if elected to the AMA Council on Science & Public Health.
- A set of four golf tees promoting the re-election of Steve Permut, MD, as AMA Trus "tee."
- A deck of cards asking support for the re-election of Paul Wertsch, MD, "experienced, insightful, ready to work" on the Council on Medical Service.
There were 15 items in all, including a calculator, a ChapStick, a combination pen and flashlight from a candidate pledging to "light the way," and a odd looking device that I finally figured out was a stand for my iPhone.
As I rummaged through the bag, I realized, "this is the AMA I've always known."