Chair: Bob Harmon                                                     Staff: Mike Barry/Jessica Cafarella

Vice Chair: Stephanie Zaza

Since the February meetings of the ACPM Policy Committee, ACPM policy activities have focused on: (1) refining and documenting the ACPM policy process; (2) launching the ACPM Job Market Initiative; (3) advocating for preventive medicine residency funding and other federal public health appropriations; and (4) preparing for the upcoming AMA House of Delegates meeting. Current activities and upcoming plans in these areas are outlined below.

ACPM successfully launched its resolutions and Open Policy Forum process in conjunction with Preventive Medicine 2001 in Miami as a way of more actively engaging members in the ACPM policy process. ACPM received and heard seven resolutions for this first go-around. While the turnout for the open forum was relatively small (likely due, in part, to the session competing against other educational sessions), the discussion was lively. Following the meeting, ACPM summarized and reported to the membership the action taken on each resolution (http://www.acpm.org/pol_res.htm).

At its February meeting immediately following the open forum, the Policy Committee created a subcommittee to refine the ACPM resolutions / open forum process in light of lessons learned at PM 2001, as well as to help frame and document the overall ACPM policy process. The subcommittee, chaired by Stephanie Zaza, developed the following charge: (1) Review and document the ACPM policy setting process; (2) Refine the ACPM Open Policy Forum and resolution process; (3) Develop a structure for the ACPM policy compendium; and (4) Develop a marketing and dissemination plan for promoting ACPM’s open policy making process. The group has convened four conference calls and developed a working draft of the ACPM Policy and Implementation Process. The committee anticipates continuing its work throughout the early summer months and having a final draft of the ACPM policy process ready for the Board’s review/approval by the Fall ACPM business meetings.

The ACPM Job Market Initiative, which aims to strengthen the job market for preventive medicine physicians, was off and running this Spring. The initiative is being carried out by a subcommittee of the Policy Committee, being led by Joel Nitzkin, in conjunction with the American Association of Public Health Physicians. The initiative stems from a set of AAPHP-sponsored resolutions approved by the ACPM Board of Regents in November 2000.

The goal of the initiative is to increase the number and quality of job offerings that express a requirement or preference for physicians with preventive medicine residency training. Initial efforts have been focused on the creation of postgraduate fellowships for physicians completing their preventive medicine residency training. These fellowships are intended to enhance the quality and range of employment opportunities for preventive medicine residents and to demonstrate to host organizations the value of preventive medicine training in addressing a wide range of organizational needs. ACPM sent a letter signed by the ACPM and AAPHP presidents to the full ACPM membership in April describing the benefits of preventive medicine fellowships and urging members to work within their organizations to create such fellowships. To date, four members have indicated an interest in either establishing a new fellowship program or enhancing an existing program. A key focus for the subcommittee over the coming months will be on outreach to national organizations representing potential employers—where ACPM or AAPHP members currently play leadership roles—to encourage the creation of fellowship opportunities. Targets will include federal agencies, other medical societies, and organizations representing state and local health departments, health plans, academic institutions, and pharmaceutical companies. Another important activity will be the development of a marketplace database to track and promote advertisements for preventive medicine-related jobs, including the numbers and types of, and qualifications for, such jobs. The database will enable ACPM to evaluate the impact of the initiative over time.

ACPM’s top policy priority continues to be funding for preventive medicine residency training. (See a copy of the Preventive Medicine Residency Funding Task Force report for recent ACPM advocacy efforts in this area.)

ACPM also has been active pushing for adequate funding of public health programs. Several key federal health programs would suffer funding cuts under President Bush's FY 2002 budget plan, released on April 9.  HRSA (18 percent decrease) and CDC (3 percent) were two of the agencies slated for overall cuts, with CDC's chronic disease programs (23 percent) and HRSA's health professions training programs (60 percent) among those programs most pertinent to preventive medicine slated for major cuts. While the administration's budget proposes an overall five percent increase for health spending, much of the increase can be attributed to a $2.75 billion increase (13.5 percent) in the NIH budget, reflecting the fourth installment of the five-year plan to double the NIH budget.  Other winners in the president's budget include AHRQ (13 percent increase), SAMHSA (3 percent), and the FDA (8 percent).  As of this writing, congressional appropriators appeared to be close to a budget resolution agreement that would hold the increase in discretionary spending near the four-to-five percent level sought by President Bush. ACPM is working with the CDC, Friends of HRSA, and Health Professions and Nursing Education coalitions to fight the proposed cuts to CDC and HRSA funding.

ACPM’s efforts in preparation for the upcoming AMA House of Delegates annual meeting have been mainly focused on supporting ACPM Delegate Ron Davis’ campaign for the AMA Board of Trustees. Having a strong preventive medicine advocate like Dr. Davis on the AMA Board would be a boon to the College. ACPM has been helping Dr. Davis with campaign mailings, strategy development, and planning for on-site events. In addition, ACPM will be hosting its own table and coordinating tables for members of the AMA Specialty and Service Society (SSS) at the Nathan Davis International Awards in Medicine and Public Health banquet at the AMA meeting. ACPM nominee, Sir Richard Doll, was selected as recipient of the Outstanding International Physician award. ACPM’s role in nominating Dr. Doll and in hosting tables at the banquet will provide welcome visibility for ACPM among the physician community as well as a strong campaigning opportunity for Dr. Davis.

Although ACPM is curtailing its policy development activities at this meeting, it is sponsoring three resolutions: (1) reducing salt intake, (2) funding for the Department of Justice’s lawsuit against the tobacco industry, and (3) bullying behavior among youth. ACPM is also co-sponsoring a fourth resolution on understanding and reducing the increase in childhood asthma.

As the incoming President-elect, Bob Harmon has indicated his desire to step down as Policy Committee chair in order to devote more time to ACPM strategic activities, such as organizational performance measurement and membership development. In addition, Vice Chair Stephanie Zaza will also be relinquishing her leadership position on the committee because of increased job demands.