Media Contact:
Kelly Thibert, D.O., M.P.H., National President
American Medical Student Association
Phone: (703) 665-4786
Email: pr@amsa.org
Sterling, VA – December 1, 2016: The American Medical Student Association (AMSA) has a mission that is built upon our members’ commitment to advocate for the improvement of health care and health care delivery to all people. The members of AMSA take an oath upon graduation, just as Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., likely did when he graduated from medical school. AMSA’s values are in line with that oath: protecting, providing and expanding access to care. But why are Rep. Price’s values contradictory to it?
We are taught daily in our medical school education that there is a problem with access to healthcare in our country; that there are millions not receiving this basic human right. We fight daily to ensure that we understand barriers our patients may face and do what we can within our communities to help to break down these barriers. If we, as physicians-in-training, are held to this standard of ensuring quality, affordable healthcare for all, why shouldn’t our nation’s top health care officer be held to the same standards?
We denounce Rep. Price’s track record, which shows his opposition to critical women’s health care services, continued discriminatory rhetoric and votes cast against LGBTQ populations, and failure to recognize the importance of mental health within our health care system. The integrity of medicine must be maintained to give all patients the right to health care.
We are America’s physicians of tomorrow. We value ethics, public health, diversity and inclusion, professionalism, and quality, affordable health care for all. Rep. Price’s values do not reflect the professional and ethical values of medicine that this profession embodies. We do not stand in support of his nomination, unlike the larger medical associations chosen to represent us in the field of medicine. Rep. Price’s political history illustrates how much he will be a detriment to our patients in the future. We call on other health care and physician organizations to voice their support in patients over profits. AMSA will continue to put patients over politics and will fight for the care and rights of our patients.
About AMSA:
AMSA is the oldest and largest independent association of physicians-in-training in the United States. Founded in 1950, AMSA is a student-governed, non-profit organization committed to representing the concerns of physicians-in-training. To learn more about AMSA, our strategic priorities, or joining the organization, please visit us online at http://www.amsa.org.
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