Yet the full potential of proportional allocation for specialties is not close to being met. Only about a third of all physicians eligible to cast ballots have done so. That shortfall is not for lack of ease or options on how to place a ballot. All new AMA members receive balloting materials upon joining. Once a ballot is cast, the designation stays as long as a physician remains an AMA member or until the doctor decides to change it.
Physicians are free to choose any society that they feel best represents their needs.
Proportional representation is a win-win situation for both individual doctors and organized medicine. Physicians who cast ballots are helping to ensure that their concerns and those of specialty colleagues are heard. Organized medicine benefits by having a more representative policy-making body that will help it remain relevant far into the future. But for these improvements to help the profession the most, it requires individual physicians to make their choices known. Back to top.