It wasn't until 1915 that the AMA opened its doors to women. This year the AMA inaugurated Nancy Dickey, MD, as its first female president. Sharing the dais with her at the inaugural ceremony were the presidents of the state medical societies, with an all-time high of six women representing their states. Our own Susan Adelman, MD, gained a position on the AMA Board of Trustees in a truly democratic election where she defeated not only good male candidates, but another woman. In the last 10 years, the number of women in the AMA House of Delegates has risen from 11 to 52, with alternates going from 23 to 68.
Women serve ably in our state medical society.
Dorothy Kahkonen, MD, is Speaker of our House of Delegates. There are three women on our Board of Directors and 7 of the 28 members of our AMA delegation are female. Women are active on many our of MSMS committees, as well. During this time of celebration, we also need to reflect on the work still to do. Despite the encouraging leadership statistics, they do not adequately reflect the make-up of the profession today.