GREAT NEWS!!!!

AMA has approved ASIPP’s membership

For over a year now we have been in the application process to become a member of the American Medical Association’s Specialty and Service Society (SSS) which is the first step toward obtaining a seat in the  AMA House of Delegates (HOD).  Today, we have been informed by Kenneth Powers of the AMA that the Specialty and Service Society has approved our application and we have been given a seat in the SSS.  

The Specialty and Service Society is the largest caucus in the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates (HOD). The SSS is made up of over 130 national medical societies, military service groups and professional interest medical associations. The SSS meets twice annually in conjunction with the Interim and Annual Meetings of the AMA HOD.

Specialty societies by and large make up the majority of the SSS. There are two categories of groups in the SSS. First there are those societies that have seats in the HOD and then there are those seeking admission to the House. There are 107 national medical specialties and 5 military service groups in the HOD.

An association must first be represented in the SSS for three years before they are eligible to seek admission to the HOD and these groups are typically referred to as "SSS groups." At any given time there are approximately 20 or more SSS groups waiting to gain admission to the HOD. In addition to participation in the SSS, societies must also comply with several other criteria for admission to the HOD.

What is important for now is that we are continuing to establish our identity as a legitimate specialty and making it possible to have a stronger voice within the medical establishment. And, it is a very nice feather to stick in our hat to begin 2004.