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Amesbury doctor takes reins at nation's largest medical association

By Katie Farrell
Staff writer
Published: July 23, 2008

AMESBURY — Taking over as the chairman of the American Medical Association's Board of Trustees, Dr. Joseph Heyman said participation in organized medicine makes his job more exciting.

"It's just a marvelous experience," Heyman said this week.

Heyman, 66, is a certified obstetrician-gynecologist with a solo practice in Amesbury at the Health Center. He is on the staff at Anna Jaques Hospital in Newburyport and has served in different positions over the last 35 years, including as chief of the department of obstetrics and gynecology, medical staff president and executive committee member.

Heyman was elected by the Board of Trustees to take over as chairman in June after serving for one year as the chair-elect. In the past, he served as the secretary. He first began serving on the board in 2002.

As chairman, Heyman fills one of the two top roles of the American Medical Association, the nation's largest association of doctors. The powerful organization influences the nation's health care policies and sets ethical standards for doctors.

While the president of the AMA is the public face of the organization, the Board of Trustees chairman is the "boss," Heyman said.

The chairman can only serve a one-year term.

As chairman, Heyman is the liaison on the Board of Trustees between the CEO and the staff, and is responsible for implementing AMA policy, speaking on behalf of the AMA and making decisions for AMA committee appointments.

Heyman, who lives in West Newbury, first became involved in organized medicine in 1973, when he joined the Massachusetts Medical Society. From there, he joined the AMA in 1980 and has been a member of the delegation from this state since 1987. In 1984, he served a term as the president of the Essex North District Medical Society.

He has served on numerous commissions and committees. Heyman has served as a member of the Council on Medical Service, an AMA advisory committee, the AMA executive committee and the Joint Commission, an organization that accredits health care organizations and programs throughout the country.

Heyman also serves on the Lower Merrimack Valley Physician Hospital Organization and the Whittier Independent Practice Association, which he founded. He was the president of the private group practice Women's Health Care in West Newbury for more than a decade.

"You meet lots of fascinating people from all over the world," Heyman said of organized medicine.

The opportunity allows members to learn new skills, including public relations and communications, and to learn more about issues ranging from publishing and economics to "comparative effectiveness," which studies different treatments to determine the methods that are most successful.

Organized medicine allows doctors to "leverage" resources in order to help and care for "lots of patients at one time," Heyman said, pointing to the recent fight led by the AMA to persuade Congress to override a veto by President George Bush relating to Medicare and stopping scheduled pay cuts for physicians who treat those in the program.

"That's something no one individual physician can do," he said.

Heyman graduated with a bachelor's degree from City College in New York and has his medical degree from State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn. He did his residency at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore and spent two years working for the U.S. Public Health Service at the Northern Navajo Hospital in New Mexico.

Heyman moved to West Newbury in 1975. He and his wife, Laurie, have two grown children.

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