The House of Delegates is the official policy-making body of the Michigan State Medical Society (MSMS). This year the 159th annual MSMS House of Delegates meeting will be held on May 11, 2024, from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm, at the Crowne Plaza, in Lansing.
Resolutions are the vehicles used to debate and determine the policies, priorities, and direction of MSMS during the ensuing 12 months and beyond. Resolutions are presented to the MSMS House of Delegates by voting delegates on behalf of their county delegation, specialty society, ethnic medical society, MSMS membership section, or as individual delegates. Once received, resolutions are reviewed for comparison to existing MSMS and AMA policy, legal considerations, and appropriate editing. They are then assigned numbers and referred to one of the six House reference committees.
The Reference Committees are responsible for listening to testimony on the rationale and merits of the submitted resolutions, discussing the issues raised for and against resolutions, and recommendations to the House of Delegates on the fate of the resolutions. At the House session on May 11, delegates will review the recommendations of the Reference Committees. The House can approve, disapprove or amend resolutions. Only after the House of Delegates votes to approve does a resolution become the official policy of the organization. This takes a majority of slotted delegates.
This year the Reference Committee meetings will be held virtually in the weeks leading up to the House of Delegates meeting. They will each be held on a different evening from 6:00 – 8:00 pm, allowing you to attend more than one if you choose. The schedule is as follows:
- Ways and Means Committee – April 24, 2024
- Reference Committee A (Medical Care Delivery) - April 17, 2024
- Reference Committee B (Legislation) – April 25, 2024
- Reference Committee C (Internal Affairs, Bylaws, and Rules) – April 18, 2024
- Reference Committee D (Public Health) – April 23, 2024
- Reference Committee E (Scientific and Educational Affairs) – April 16, 2024
The Zoom link for all Reference Committee meetings will be the same. To access the link, please click here. If you do not have a zoom account, you may need to enter your name and email address to join. Written instructions on how to testify can be located here. A video with instructions on how to testify can be viewed here. Any MSMS member is welcome to provide testimony.
Online Reference Committee testimony can be submitted until April 15, 2024, at https://msmshod.freeforums.net/. To limit access to members only, you will need to register your account in order to provide comments. Please use your first and last name for your username so that membership status may be verified.
The official handbook is available on the MSMS website. Please click here to view or download.
For those that are new or for anyone interested in additional information on this year’s meeting, MSMS has recorded a video that reviews the Order of Business, Virtual Reference Committees, and Elections. Please click here to view the video.
Please feel free to contact Rebecca Blake at (517) 336-5729 or rblake@msms.org with any questions.