Defining Moments in the History of the AMA

Rajan Bhatt is the founder and CEO of Spectrum Dermatology & Valley Surgery Center in Scottsdale, Arizona. He holds MD, MBA, and MA degrees, coupled with experience in strategic planning, multi-specialty healthcare management, and surgery center development. Rajan Bhatt is affiliated with multiple professional organizations, including the American Heart Association and the American Medical Association.

The American Medical Association (AMA) was founded 175 years ago, and certain moments are particularly noteworthy in the AMA’s evolution. On July 14, 1883, the AMA published the first issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Nathan Smith Davis, Sr, a two-time president of the AMA, was the first editor. Stakeholders regard the global, peer-reviewed journal as one of the United States’ most influential medical journals.

Nearly 25 years later, the AMA unveiled the first American Medical Directory, now the Physician Masterfile, in 1906. The directory was primarily limited to being a compilation for mailing purposes. However, it now comprises vast professional data on nearly all Doctors of Medicine and Osteopathic Medicine in the United States and related territories.

Furthermore, the AMA set up the Centre for Health Equity in 2019 to engender racial parity in medicine.

About Nerve Blocks – Non-invasive

Dr. Rajan Bhatt is a practicing cardiologist and a dynamic healthcare leader dedicated to providing his patients with the finest possible services and manages multiple healthcare companies in Scottsdale, Arizona, including Spectrum Dermatology and Spectrum Plastic Surgery. Dr. Rajan Bhatt also serves as the CEO of Valley Surgery Center, which provides patients undergoing surgical procedures with effective pain management. When required, the devoted team of anesthesiologists at the facility recommends and administers nerve blocks safely and effectively.

A nerve block is a pain-numbing injection delivered to special target tissues of the body. Nerve blocks eliminate pain by hindering the capacity of the nervous system to express pain. They are minimally invasive since the target tissues are networks of nerves (called ganglions) in the peripheral nervous system (outside the brain and spinal cord). As such, they are generally safe.

Anesthesiologists and a few other medical professionals administer nerve blocks for diverse ambitions. Anesthesiologists often give nerve blocks to patients who are suffering from painful conditions. The effects of nerve blocks in these applications are temporary, and re-injection may be needed after some days.

Sometimes, patients with conditions that require open surgery or other invasive treatments may postpone the surgery for safety reasons without suffering discomfort by masking the pain from their conditions with nerve blocks. Nerve blocks can also reduce or eliminate the pain from certain surgical procedures during an operation.

Doctors sometimes use nerve blocks to determine the sources of pain. This is done by injecting nerve blocks in suspected regions and checking if there is an improvement. Nerve blocks can also help doctors scrutinize the outcome of suggested treatments to narrow lists down to the most suitable approaches. Nerve blocks are also used immediately after patients undergo certain procedures to manage post-operative pain.