The American Medical Association Opens Its Membership to Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants
The American Medical Association is getting a shot in the arm recently and it’s not from the Covid vaccine. A massive influx of new members are actually excited to pay their membership dues. For years the decreasing levels of doctors staying with the organization have been troubling to those in charge. That is until recently:
“We knew we were in trouble”, said John Dingleberry, acting CFO of the American Medical Association. “Then it hit us! Why not let Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants join? They are taking most jobs from physicians anyway? And it’s been a great move for us financially”.
This move to allow “nondoctors” to join the AMA has caused a stir among the almost 3916 physician members that were left in the organization (most of them were free memberships given to medical students and residents). Behind the scenes at the massive AMA headquarters, there has been a celebration, however. Record numbers of NPs and PAs have been joining and the revenue has allowed the AMA not only to keep their massive plaza in Chicago (see picture above) but actually expand it.
“At the end of the day”, Dingleberry continued, “it’s about money. Above all else, the AMA has to set a standard for other professional organizations to look up to. And that standard is based on what our headquarters looks like. I am not sure why some physicians are angry at this. The name AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION doesn’t even have ‘physician’ in it. We don’t even need to incur an expense to change it”.
Many physicians around the country, who are not members, were not shocked by this:
“They have not represented me for years”, said Margie Snarkle, MD of Topeka, KS, “I have always said that the only thing faster than a tornado is the speed at which I throw away their journal into my trash”.
“They make all their money from CPT codes anyway. It is obvious that the members didn’t matter”, said Frank Johnson, MD of Boise, Idaho.
“Are you kidding me? Well, I was holding out hope that they would use their power and money to fight the encroachment of NPs and PAs but I guess not. I mean, all they had to do was produce real studies showing the differences in our care and that would be it. I would have signed right back up. Instead, they sold out. Again.”
The new AMA, according to Dingleberry, will be starting an immediate media campaign in order to announce this massive influx of nondoctors. Expect to see their advertisements everywhere, from billboards to online, saying things such as:
The new American Medical Association is now fully inclusive!
The new AMA is now the home of all medical providers.
Physicians, Nurse Practitioners, and Physician Assistants all under one umbrella to help patients. The AMA is there for you!
For more information on this transformation at the American Medical Association please click here.
(Editor’s Note: Seriously, look at the date of this post and click the link above).
You had me at “Dingleberry.”
Too bad it was an April fools joke because it would have been such a great idea to unify the three professions and for the AMA to take the lead. Maybe on April 2 and they can do it for real. I certainly hope so. Sincerely Alfred M Jr MD FACP and I am a member of the AMA!
Okay now THIS is good parody… I hope.
This is not a drill. The reason you can’t find the story looking for AMA on Google is that they retitled the organization to MMA, or “Mixed Medical Arts” Like some sports that sprinkle a little of this on a little of that, and churn it together to make you a Ken-Po-Ku-Te black-belt in three weeks – none of those decades of study and medicatation! the MMA is recognizing Doctor-Practitioner-Physicians (PPhD) who receive an esteemed degree after finishing the first year’s subscription. To get your endoctorination pin, send your name and Tik-Tok interview to the MMA, Easy Street Plaza, Chicago Il.
Well, call me a dufus, this had me going. Duh!!
What’s the date again?
I dropped out of AMA over 20 years ago. I couldn’t see what good they were doing. Retired from FP last July at age 64 and don’t regret leaving one iota. FP is the worse specialty a student could go into.
O.K. It’s a joke but it sounded pretty real and logical to me. My bad. 🙂
In a statement released today, the AAFP says:
“We strongly support this bold and forward-looking move by the AMA.
For two decades, we have been preaching that Americans should receive health care in a Patient Centered Medical Home from a team of trained professionals.
Any moron knows that that means we’re saying that physicians are completely unnecessary.
M.D.s can drop dead as far as we’re concerned, as long as they continue to pay their dues.”
So having the nerve to say “patient centered” rather than “physician centered” is enough for you to interpret that as “physicians are completely unnecessary.”??? That is a huge leap and, you might be right. Maybe you are unnecessary now that you mention it…
You obviously know nothing about the so-called “Patient Centered Medical Home,” which is entirely about servicing the desires of insurers and providing job security for bureaucrats – the wants and needs of patients are totally irrelevant to the concept.
Go back where you came from.
Mooshika, you do realize that the efforts of the medical bureaucrats ARE in the direction of minimizing Internists and FPs, right? And, let’s not be snarky toward other physicians on this blog. We are all here to work to save this gallant profession.
I think y’all are being punk’d