Perspectives on the NMA 120th Annual Meeting and Scientific Assembly

I attended the National Medical Association’s 120th Annual Meeting and Scientific Assembly held in Atlanta, Ga July 31—August 4, 2022 as a delegate to the House of Delegates and to attend the scientific sessions.

As a delegate, I had been assigned to the Committee on Public Health and Consumer Affairs.  We reviewed 16 Resolutions submitted including one that I submitted to have the NMA address the issue of increasing suicide in African-American youth and young adults.  Fortunately, all of the resolutions including this one passed.  We will need to monitor how these issues are handled by the NMA through the Board of Trustees. 

Also, there was the transition of leadership from Dr. Rachel Villanueva and Dr. Garfield A. Clunie was installed as the 123rd President of the NMA.  He is an obstetrician-gynecologist and maternal-fetal medicine specialist at Mt. Sinai Health System in New York.  In September, he will be joining the faculty at NYU where he will be an associate professor of Ob-Gyn and the inaugural Vice Chair for Diversity, Inclusion and Equity in the department.  A highlight of the meeting included a presentation by Dr. Cheryl Lee-Butler, the president of the National Dental Association who extolled the need for collaboration between African-American dentists and physicians to be more effective in dealing with the health disparities.

From an administrative standpoint, the NMA is in the process of finding a new executive director following the exit of Mr. Martin Hamlette.  The chair of the Board of Trustees has been acting in an interim position without salary until the position is filled.  Financially, the NMA is in the black and remains stable.

Usually, I attend the General Surgery scientific sessions but at this meeting, I chose to attend the Community Medicine & Public Health section’s sessions and found this to be extremely interesting.  The presentations included:

·      Lead in drinking water—presented by a family practice physician from Flint, Michigan

·      Epidemiology of Firearm Related Injuries

·      Reproductive Health Care since 1976

·      White Supremacist Violence Against Black and Brown Persons

·      Voter Suppression and Its Affect on Health Equity

These and other topics generated vigorous discussion.  Of significance, there were recommendations for managing these problems which stressed the need for African-American physicians to collaborate with other organizations and communities to resolve the problems. 

The purpose of the meeting continues to demonstrate the need for an organized approach to solving the complex problems of health care in our nation, states and local communities.