Six California physicians were elected to American Medical Association (AMA) leadership positions at its annual House of Delegates (HOD) meeting this week in Chicago.

David H. Aizuss, M.D., a Los Angeles ophthalmologist, was re-elected to and named chair-elect of the AMA Board of Trustees. Dr. Aizuss is a longtime leader in organized medicine. First elected to the AMA Board of Trustees in 2020, he is also a past president of CMA, the Los Angeles County Medical Association and the California Academy of Eye Physicians and Surgeons. Before being elected as CMA president in 2018, he served as chair of the CMA Board of Trustees.

Toluwalase A. Ajayi, M.D., a San Diego pediatrician, pediatric and adult palliative medicine specialist, and clinical researcher, was elected Secretary of the AMA Board of Trustees. First elected an AMA trustee in 2022, Dr. Ajayi is also chair of the CMA Council on Medical Services and is past president of the San Diego County Medical Society, where she was the first black woman president in the organization’s 152-year history.

Lynn Jeffers, M.D., a board-certified plastic surgeon in Oxnard, was also elected to the AMA Board of Trustees. An active member of AMA and CMA member since medical school, Dr. Jeffers has served as chair of the AMA’s Council on Medical Service and is the former president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. She is also a member of the CMA House of Delegates.

Seema Sidhu, M.D., a Santa Clara ob-gyn, was elected to the AMA Council on Medical Education. Dr. Sidhu has been a community leader in organized medicine for 15 years, and is also currently serving on the CMA Board of Trustees and is a past president for the Santa Clara County Medical Association.

Rachel Ekaireb, M.D., a surgical resident at UC Davis, was elected to the AMA Council on Science and Public Health. Dr. Ekaireb has been active in organized medicine at the state and national levels since medical school, and is currently representing the CMA Resident and Fellow Section on the CMA Board of Trustees. She previously served on the CMA Council on Science and Public Health.

Steven L. Chen, M.D., a surgical oncologist from San Diego, was re-elected to the AMA Council on Medical Service, where he previously served as a student, a resident and now as a practicing physician. Dr. Chen also serves as the legislative chair of the American Society of Breast Surgeons and on several accreditation and quality metric setting bodies, including the National Quality Forum, the AMA’s Physician’s Consortium for Practice Improvement and the Society of Surgical Oncology’s training committee. Over his 30 years in organized medicine, Dr. Chen has also served on four different county medical society boards.

Following the AMA HOD, Jerry P. Abraham, M.D., a family medicine physician from Los Angeles, was named chair of the AMA Council on Constitution and Bylaws, after serving as vice-chair of that council. Dr. Abraham is also president of the the Los Angeles County Medical Association, a member of the CMA Board of Trustees and has served in numerous other leadership positions in organized medicine the state and national levels.

AMA Press Release: AMA announces Board of Trustees for 2024-2025