This press release contains dated information and should be used for background only.
In his spare time, medical student Joe McDonald is transforming the future of health care in the United States. McDonald, fourth-year student at the University of Kansas School of Medicine, already has helped shape important policies held by the American Medical Association. On Dec. 7, the Student Section of the AMA elected him chair of its delegation.
"It is a huge honor for us to have our student selected as the national chair of the AMA Medical Student Section," said Barbara Atkinson, MD, School of Medicine executive dean and vice chancellor for clinical affairs. "This indicates the type of really outstanding students we take into our medical school class and the quality of leadership we have among our student body."
The prestigious position will afford McDonald the opportunity to influence the nation’s largest and most effectual association of physicians, resident physicians and medical students. As chair of the Student Section, the largest of six sections comprising the AMA, McDonald will represent more than 50,000 student members. He will serve as the mouthpiece for the student voice and provide vision and direction to the organization.
"I am excited to get started," he said. "We, as students, as well as the entire organization, have a lot of work to do."
McDonald said a growing number of challenges faced AMA members as well as all physicians. Some issues specific to medical students include rising student debt, residency work-hour reform and the implementation of new clinical skills exams. In addition to student-focused issues, McDonald and his constituents will also weigh in on issues facing all physicians, such as health care access for the uninsured and the rising costs of malpractice insurance.
He said that one of the biggest challenges facing the AMA was physician apathy.
"Only 50 percent of doctors vote in elections," he said. "Physicians can’t hope to influence the future of medicine in this country if they don’t make it their duty to become involved in the process."
McDonald said that as leader of the student section, he would work to excite more students about the AMA and promote early and lasting memberships.
"If we as the active students did a better job of exciting our students and keeping everyone involved, the AMA would have a better rate of participation from practicing physicians, which is vitally important for the guidance and the future of health care," he said.
McDonald has been an active member of the AMA since he began medical school four years ago. As chair of his KU AMA chapter, he co-wrote a resolution on domestic partner benefits that is now AMA policy. He also served on several committees at annual conventions and was elected Regional Delegate to the AMA’s House of Delegates, representing medical students in six states. During the past two years, due in part to his recruitment efforts, the AMA awarded the KU chapter its National Recruitment Award and McDonald the Foundation Leadership Award.
McDonald is not a typical medical student by any stretch. In addition to his active involvement in the AMA, he is one of a handful of students at the medical school enrolled in its MD/PhD program. This seven-year, combined program is designed to prepare students for careers as physician scientists who conduct laboratory research along side their clinical practices. McDonald is earning a PhD in molecular and integrative physiology. His research studies the effects of low oxygen levels, such as those caused by high altitude, respiratory disorders or sleep apnea, on the brain. In April, he will present his research at the Experimental Biology meeting in San Diego. He is now preparing two papers for publication.
In addition to McDonald, two other The University of Kansas Hospital students were elected to prestigious AMA posts this month. Jay Nachtigal, third-year, was named Regional Delegate to the House of Delegates; Jason McKinney, third-year, was named Alternate Regional Delegate. The three will perform their first official duties in June at the AMA’s annual meeting in Chicago.