Message from the GSA-MAS Coordinating Committee Chair

Welcome to the Minority Affairs Section (MAS) Coordinating Committee. The MAS Coordinating Committee oversees the MAS. The MAS elects its own national and regional officers, develops and implements projects related to its national agenda, and holds business meetings at both the GSA spring meetings and the AAMC Annual Meeting.

The MAS Coordinating Committee members include the:

• MAS National Chair (who serves as chair)
• MAS National Chair Elect
• Chairs of the four regional MAS constituencies (Central, Northeast, Southern, and Western)
• the Immediate Past MAS National Chair
• the GSA National Chair
• the MAS representative to the GSA Committee on Admissions (COA)
• the MAS representative to the GSA Committee on Financial Assistance(COSFA)
• the MAS representative to the GSA Committee on Student Affairs (COSA)
• the MAS representative to the GSA Committee on Student Records (COSR)
• a student representative from the AAMC Organization of Student Representatives (OSR)
• a representative from the National Association of Advisors for the Health Professions (NAAHP)
• a representative from the Association of American Indian Physicians (AAIP)

The MAS Coordinating Committee receives information and requests for approval or modification of MAS Rules and Regulations, guideline statements and policy recommendations from its membership through regional officers. The MAS Coordinating Committee considers these requests with input from schools, other AAMC components, and, when applicable, related external organizations. If the request is approved by the MAS Coordinating Committee, it is carried forward by the MAS National Chair to the GSA Steering Committee for consideration. If approved by the GSA Steering Committee, the Chair of the AAMC Council of Deans (COD) then takes the request to the AAMC Executive Council for consideration. Only after the AAMC Executive Council has approved it can a guideline or policy statement be considered to be official AAMC policy and promulgated to the MAS and AAMC membership.

The work of the GSA-MAS begins with those who serve on the MAS Coordinating Committee, and I am grateful for the opportunity to be a part of such a talented group of individuals. The MAS Coordinating Committee represents a rich tradition, a dedicated group of professionals who are committed to making a difference in the education and the lives of individuals who traditionally have not been well represented in medical education. Your service and your tireless efforts are to be commended and applauded for what has been accomplished and for what is yet to be accomplished. As Chair of the Coordinating Committee, I look forward to working with all of you in a collegial and productive manner. As members of the Coordinating Committee, we all serve at the behest of our constituents as elected leadership. We have a responsibility to give our best work, to be productive, and most important to give back. With the jobs that we do and all the responsibilities we hold at our respective institutions, time is perhaps our most precious resource. Still, all of you have stepped forward to serve and to give your time unselfishly in order to help the GSA-MAS and AAMC move closer toward increasing diversity in medical education and improving health care equity in the United States.

Indeed, there are myriad challenges that we may face, such as creating funding and maintaining robust pipeline programs in our medical schools that contribute to increasing diversity throughout the continuum of medical education; implementing cultural competency as an integral component of medical education to address the health care needs of everyone is the United States; providing opportunities for professional development, leadership and promotion for historically underrepresented minorities in graduate medical education and the faculty ranks; and creating and promoting a research agenda that addresses the racial and ethnic disparities that exist in health and healthcare in this nation. Despite these challenges, the Coordinating Committee has always had the resolve, the will and the professionalism to work towards building a consensus, getting the right people at the table, eliciting and respecting the views of constituents, exhibiting accountability and holding to its commitments.

The strategic thinking and positioning (STP) process that has been adopted by the AAMC will provide a new direction, new opportunities and new challenges for the MAS Coordinating Committee, but I believe we are prepared for the changes that will come. So, as we step into the future, let us all leave our egos at home for there is much work to be done. Let innovation be a value we embrace without fear, let collaboration be our rule of the day, let us all be accountable for any tasks or commitments we may assume, let us always show respect towards our colleagues and let us not settle for anything less than sheer excellence in all we do and seek to accomplish.

I am honored to serve as Chair of the MAS Coordinating Committee, and I look forward to working with each of you. I know we will get the job done and, in turn, all of our boats will rise with the coming tide.

Cynthia E. Boyd, M.D., MBA, FACP
Associate Vice-President, Chief Compliance Officer
Director, Medical Staff Operations, Rush University Medical Center
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Rush Medical College
GSA-MAS National Chair 2007-2009

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