The NPA’s First Annual Meeting

Physicians of the 21st Century: Service, Integrity, Advocacy

Chicago, IL

April 1-3, 2006

See the complete agenda and photo gallery.

Dr. Fitzhugh Mullan kicked off the conference with his keynote which offered a past, present, and future view of physician activism.  

A member of the NPA Advisory Board, Dr. Mullan is the Murdock Head Prof. of Medicine and Health Policy at the George Washington Univ. School of Public Health and a clinical Prof. of Pediatrics at the George Washington Univ. School of Medicine. He is a member of the medical staff at the Upper Cardozo Community Health Center in Washington, D.C.  From 1977-1981, Dr. Mullan served as Director of the National Health Service Corps in Washington, D.C., followed by tours as a Scholar-in-Residence at the Institute of Medicine, as a senior medical officer at the NIH and, in 1984-1985, as the Secretary of the Health and Environment Dept. for the state of New Mexico. During 1986-88 he was on faculty in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health followed by two years on the staff of the Surgeon General, directing the Office of Public Health History. He was appointed Director of the Bureau of Health Professions in the Health Resources and Services Administration in 1990 and to the rank of Assistant Surgeon General (Rear Admiral) in 1991. In subsequent years, he served on both the President’s Task Force on Health Care Reform and the Council on Graduate Medical Education.  Dr. Mullan has written widely for both professional and general audiences on medical and health policy topics. His books include White Coat Clenched Fist: The Political Education of an American Physician (Macmillan, 1977), Vital Signs: A Young Doctor’s Struggle with Cancer (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1983), Plagues and Politics: The Story of the United States Public Health Service (Basic Books, 1989), Big Doctoring in America: Profiles in Primary Care (University of California Press/Milbank Fund, 2002). He is the senior editor of Healers Abroad: Americans Responding to Human Resource Crisis in the HIV/AIDS (National Academy Press, 2005).

Following Dr. Mullan’s inspiring talk, Dr. Lydia J. Vaias spoke on the need for the NPA.  View a transcript of her opening remarks.   

We invite you to view some of the many innovative sessions offered at the conference.

Stephen R. Smith, MD, MPH                                                                        Dr. Smith is the Associate Dean of Medicine and Professor of Family Medicine at Brown University.  He is also a member of the NPA interim executive committee.  Dr. Smith’s session was entitled "Solving the Malpractice Riddle: Thinking Out of the Box."

Mike Mendoza, MD, MPH                                                                             Dr. Mendoza is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Chicago.  Dr. Mendoza’s session was entitled "Practice Innovations that Improve Access to Care."

David Grande, MD, MPA                                                                               Dr. Grande is a Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania.  He is also a member of the NPA interim executive committee.  Dr. Grande’s session was entitled "Putting our Education for Sale: Industry Ties to CME."

Dave Evans, MD                                                                                          Dr. Evans is a family physician with the Madras Medical Group in rural Oregon.  He is also a member of the NPA interim executive committee.  Dr. Evans’s session was entitled "The Evolution of a Pharm-Free Office: The Story of Madras Medical Group."