American Medical Association

The American Medical Association (AMA), founded in 1847 and incorporated in 1897, is the largest association of physicians—both MDs and DOs—and medical students in the United States. The AMA's stated mission is "to promote the art and science of medicine and the betterment of public health." The Association also publishes the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The AMA also publishes a list of Physician Specialty Codes which are the standard method in the U.S. for identifying physician and practice specialties. The American Medical Association is governed by a House of Delegates as well as a board of trustees in addition to executive management. The organization maintains the AMA Code of Medical Ethics that is the guide to ethical practice of medicine and the AMA Physician Masterfile containing data on United States Physicians. The Current Procedural Terminology coding system was first published in 1966 and is maintained by the Association. It has also published works such as the Guides to Evaluation of Permanent Impairment and established the American Medical Association Foundation and the American Medical Political Action Committee. Patrice A. Harris, MD, MA, a psychiatrist from Atlanta, became the AMA’s 174th president in June 2019, the organization's first African-American woman to hold this position. Susan R. Bailey, M.D., an allergist and immunologist from Fort Worth, Texas, became president-elect in June 2019. When Dr. Bailey is inaugurated in 2020, the AMA will for the first time in its history have had three consecutive female physicians as president. Jesse M. Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH, an anesthesiologist from Nashville, Tennessee, currently serves as Chair of the AMA Board of Trustees.