UB Assistant Dean, Buffalo Internist Elected Vice Speaker of American Medical Association

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Nancy H. Nielsen, M.D., Ph.D., assistant dean for academic and curricular affairs in the University of Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and a UB clinical associate professor of medicine, was elected vice speaker of the American Medical Association's (AMA) policy-making House of Delegates during the association's annual meeting.

The position puts Nielsen in line for the presidency of the AMA, if tradition holds. While there is no specific policy on the route to the top office, in the past the vice speaker has become speaker and the speaker has been elected president after experience in both speaker positions, according to an AMA spokesperson.

The AMA House of Delegates is composed of physician representatives from every state; nearly 100 national medical-specialty societies; federal service agencies, including the Surgeon General of the United States, and six sections representing hospital and clinical staffs, resident physicians, medical students, young physicians, medical schools and international medical graduates.

The speaker is responsible for the efficient and orderly transaction of House of Delegates' business. The vice speaker assists the speaker in determining programming for the house's meetings, as well as operations of the house, and assists in chairing the meeting. The vice speaker also serves as an ex-officio, non-voting, member of the AMA Board of Trustees, and also of the AMA Council on Constitution and Bylaws.

Nielsen, an internist in private practice in Buffalo, has been elected twice to the AMA's Council on Scientific Affairs and sits on its executive committee and Strategic Planning Task Force. She currently serves the AMA on the National Patient Safety Foundation Board of Directors and the Commission for the Prevention of Youth Violence. She also has served on the AMA's Ad Hoc Committee on Structure, Governance and Operations.

The speaker of the House of Delegates of the Medical Society of the State of New York, Nielsen also has served as a trustee of the State University of New York and chief medical officer for the New York State Department of Health's Western Region.

She is a fellow of the American College of Physicians and a former member of the board of the New York State Society of Internal Medicine. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Medical Liability Mutual Insurance Company.

Nielsen is a resident of Orchard Park.