1. Choose a topic that is important, relevant and deserving of official AMA and AMA-MSS policy.

2. Identify yourself as the author of a resolution, even if it is submitted by a group or society (names in parentheses).

3. WHEREAS clauses are factual clauses to support your resolution; they should be concise and to the point, no more than one sentence each. Resolutions that have too many WHEREAS clauses only serve to make the reader less amenable to your idea. If he or she has to sort through multiple WHEREAS clauses in order to determine your point it does not reflect well on your idea. The entire resolution should be no longer than one page.

4. Relevant AMA and AMA-MSS policy should be clearly cited in the resolution WHEREAS clauses. In addition, resolutions submitted for consideration by the MSS Assembly shall include existing AMA and AMA-MSS policy related to the subject as an appendix provided by the author.

5. RESOLVED clauses state your proposed policy change. Internal resolutions affect MSS actions (RESOLVED, that the AMA-MSS...); External resolutions are forwarded to the AMA-HOD for action (RESOLVED, that the AMA...). Internal and external intents may not exist within the same RESOLVED clause, rather, separate resolved clauses are necessary if you want the AMA-MSS to take an action separate from the AMA-HOD. RESOLVED clauses should be only one sentence in length and must be able to stand alone as they are the only part of the resolution that will be debated by the Assembly.

6. Fiscal notes are required on all resolutions that will require AMA expenditures. DMSS staff will attach fiscal notes. Authors will be notified of the fiscal impact prior to the meeting.

7. References are included at the end of the resolution and are used for documentation of WHEREAS clauses. Please submit them with your resolution for review by the Reference Committees.

(Consult the New Delegates Handbook for a more detailed description).

AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION MEDICAL STUDENT SECTION
Resolution: 22
 (I-97)
Introduced by: John S. Milne
Medical College of Wisconsin

Subject:  Regulation of Handgun Safety and Quality

Referred to:  Reference Committee B
Peter Hazelton, Chair
 
 
 

Whereas, Handguns, especially small, inexpensive handguns, account for the vast majority of firearm homicides, suicides, and unintended injuries (1-8); and

Whereas, The Gun Control Act of 1968 banned the importation of small, inexpensive "Saturday Night Special" handguns and established factoring criteria which the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) uses to evaluate the size, quality, and safety of all imported handguns (1); and

Whereas, Historically, the United States Congress has specifically prohibited the ATF or the Consumer Product Safety Commission from regulating the production of domestically produced handguns (1); and

Whereas, Several states, including Massachusetts and Maryland, have adopted legislation which regulates the safety and quality of handguns sold within the state (1,9); and

Whereas, In response to state level actions on handgun safety, Senator Boxer and Representative Schumer have introduced the "American Handgun Standards Act of 1997" (S.70, H.R. 492) for Congressional action, which would apply the ATF factoring criteria for imported handguns to all handguns manufactured or sold in the United States; and

Whereas, Both AMA-HOD and AMA-MSS policy (Section 145.000) recognizes the risk to society posed by firearms, and support in general terms the federal regulation of firearm, manufacture, distribution, safety, quality, and education as a means of protecting the public health; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That the AMA support legislation that seeks to apply the same quality and safety standards to domestically manufactured handguns that are currently applied to imported handguns.

Fiscal Note: No Significant Fiscal Impact

References :

1 Karlston, T.A. and S.W. Hargarten. Reducing firearm injury and death: a public health source book on guns.  1997. Rutgers University Press. New Brunswick, NJ.

2 Kellermann, A.L. et al. Suicide in the home in relation to gun ownership. New England Journal of Medicine.  1992;237:467-472.

3 Kellermann, A.L. et al. Gun ownership as a risk factor for homicide in the home. New England Journal of Medicine. 1993;329: 1084-1091.

4 Kellermann A.L. et al. Injuries due to firearms in three cities. New England Journal of Medicine.
  1996;335;1438-1444.

5 Sinauer,N.,J.L. Annest, J.A. Mercy. Unintentional, nonfatal firearm-related injuries. JAMA. 1996;275:17401743.

Etc…

Introduced by:  Missouri Delegation

Subject:   Investigation of ERAS Application Fees

Referred to:  Reference Committee XXXX, Chair:

Whereas, The Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) provides a very worthwhile time-saving service to residency applicants; and

Whereas, The AMA and AMA-MSS has encouraged the development of an effective computerized centralized residency application which would accommodate the tailoring of applications to multiple specialty fields; and

Whereas, The AMA has asked the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education to require all residency programs to use such an application; and

Whereas, The AMA has previously supported student concerns regarding the costs of applying to residency; and

Whereas, The minimum cost to each applicant using ERAS is $100, and an informal survey at one medical school revealed the average cost to be $255; and

Whereas, Applicants to traditionally more competitive fields are likely to apply to several programs, raising their ERAS fees, which may potentially force applicants to narrow their options due to the associated financial burden; and

Whereas, The AAMC has designed the ERAS Student Workstation software to treat each program individually; applicants cannot "block-select" a group of programs, and there are no shortcuts because of multiple selections; and

Whereas, According to the AAMC's ERAS website, "Any decrease in effort in filling out applications is not accompanied by any reduction in travel expenses or in effort required to gather information and select appropriate programs to which to apply," and "experience during the 1995 Pilot Implementation supports that ERAS will not lead to a substantial increase in applications;" therefore be it

RESOLVED, That the AMA-MSS Governing Council investigate the current fee structure associated with the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS), with a report back at A-98 to include recommendations on how to make the fee structure more amenable to residency applicants.
 

Fiscal Note: No Significant Fiscal Impact
References:

1. AMA Policies 310.954, 310.964, 310.966.
2. AAMC ERAS website, http://www.aamc.org/about/progempNeras/