The Modern Value of the NMA

The NMA was established in 1895, shortly after slavery, during Jim Crow, when Black physicians were denied admission to the AMA Changing medical policy, new scientific research, and clinical practice realities could have been largely out of reach for Black physicians but for the NMA The NMA offered first-rate scientific programming, advocacy for Black patients, and reunions for physicians disbursed throughout the country Once the AMA and other segregated medical societies admitted Black physicians (even if apologies were decades late), a question about the value of the NMA emerged If the scientific presentations, policy, and practice management realities could be gathered independent of the NMA, why would it still be important? If the NMA is the voice of more than 30,000 physicians and the patients they serve, there are not 30,000 members Many young physicians do not actively seek participation in the NMA Then, the value should be made clear now, as it was in 1895, that Black people suffer starkly disparate health outcomes, already well-known and laid bare by the COVID pandemic The scientific presentations by esteemed NMA members cut to the crux of such disparities and possible solutions The clinical presentations are tied to such disparities, and are deliberately presented at the annual NMA convention as well as throughout the year in its journal, regional meetings, and respective section calls Because there remains an overt shortage of Black physicians dispersed throughout the country, the NMA provides a gathering place, a home, where physicians can collaborate, commiserate, and realize that, since 1895, they are not alone This is valuable information for Black physicians who have not fully participated in the NMA lately The NMA can be a response to the national cry for medical leadership, and membership, as Black people are brutalized on the nightly news