The AMAF Excellence in Medicine Awards recognizes physicians and medical advocates who exemplify the highest values of volunteerism, community engagement, leadership and dedication to the care of underserved populations. Recipients are honored at a ceremony during the AMA Annual Meeting and can choose a health-focused non-profit organization for a grant honorarium.

AMAF donors recently came together to create a new Excellence in Medicine Award. The Courage in Women’s Health Advocacy Award honors physicians dedicated to clinically advancing women’s health and who demonstrate courageous advocacy in support of women, including all who identify as women, or women’s health. The inaugural recipient will be presented with the award during the AMA Annual Meeting in June 2023.

Founding donor Brandi Rig, MD, MA, MBA, FACOG, FAWM, FACS, was inspired to donate to the fund by the women she sees every day: her patients. “These patients who are sometimes struggling just to survive, to take care of their families, to juggle work and home responsibilities deserve the very best care that medicine and science can provide them,” she says. “I see our system failing them every day—insurance that doesn’t cover tests or imaging studies they need, copays for specialist visits and tests that they cannot afford, insurance that covers only until delivery but not after birth.”

Dr. Rig believes that the Courage in Women’s Health Advocacy Award is needed to support and recognize physicians who are fighting to change the system, people who are fighting for women and those who identify as women. “These champions need to know that there is support out there for the change they are trying to make happen and the patients they are trying to care for,” she adds. “Inspiration and hope can be found in the smallest gesture of thanks. I donate to spark that inspiration and hope for others so many more will have the courage to join the fight beside these champions.”

Fellow founding donor and former AMA president Barbara McAneny, MD, also voices her support of the fund. “I gave to the AMA Foundation’s Courage in Women’s Health Advocacy Award because I not only want to advance women’s health care clinically but I want to provide a vehicle to help protect the physicians who deliver women’s health in an environment where the standard of health care may be criminalized, she states. “It is the job of the AMA to protect and service the practice of medicine, and the Foundation gives us the ability to put our money where our values are.”

The AMAF thanks the donors who generously established the award: Jodi Abbot, MD, MSc, MHCH; Joanna Turner Bisgrove, MD, FAAFP; Betty Chu, MD, MBA; Lisa Bohman Egbert, MD; Nita Kulkarni, MD and Bobby Mukkamala, MD; Ilse Levin, MD, MPH; G. Sealy Massingill, MD and Debbie Massingill; Barbara McAneny, MD; Diana Ramos, MD, MPH, MBA, FACOG; Brandi Rig, MD, MA, MBA, FACOG, FAWM, FACS; and Heather Smith, MD, MPH.

To support the fund, visit our donation page or text ‘WHCF’ to 41444.