Influence and Impact of the American Medical Association

The American Medical Association was an organization established by physicians, for physicians, and is entirely self-regulated. As the voice of the profession, the organization influences medical education, practice, and care by setting the standards for the physician. Although not all physicians are members, they share many of the same professional values as the organization, and the desire of the betterment of human health, which is why the organization continues to be the voice of the profession. As a result, the scope of control is large considering that since the organization has an effect on practicing physicians; it also affects all recipients of health care. The additional ethical and technical standards that are set by the American

The Flexner Report began the development of medical training by exposing the intellectual disparities in the schooling. Organized medicine led the education effort, and when improving the medical school curriculum, many of the physicians that were involved with medical education were often affiliates of the American Medical Association, an assertion that still stands today. The importance of the organization’s involvement in medical education is that only those of the profession can adequately judge training in their own profession. As the American Medical Association is considered to be the voice of the physician, their involvement can be justified to be crucial. Influence in medical training also allows for the dissemination of the organization’s values, such as physician autonomy, and to control the quality of physicians through licensing. Stricter admissions policies and difficult curriculums lessen the amount of physicians to lessen competition between them and cultivate a more qualified practicing population. The involvement of medical associations in education also reduces the threat of government intervention, which goes against the organization’s penchant for physician independence, and allows for the possibility for the deterioration of educational

Medicine evolved from a trade in which individual practitioners with varying medical knowledge and educations competed for patients. The concept of organized medicine began to develop to concert the activities of physicians. The American Medical Association came to power to create physicians that were versed in science with extensive training through education reform. The improved quality of physicians led to the professionalization of the medical field, and the American Medical Association still exists to defend the interest of physicians. However, as the health care system becomes more complex, the physician will become more dependent on other professionals and administrators to deliver health care, which can decrease the authority and importance of the physician. Though organized medicine advocates for physicians, there is a limitation on its ability to control the development of medical practice today. Because the American Medical Association is the largest association of physicians, it puts physicians on one accord and sets the standard for the values and ethics of the profession. The American Medical Association affects the health care field in that it defined the role of the most prominent delivers of health