“It’s truly a dream come true to stand before you tonight,” she said. “A dream
my ancestors, parents, my extended family, and my friends supported before it
even entered my imagination. A dream my West Virginia, Georgia, psychiatry and
AMA families helped me achieve. And I know in my heart that, tonight, I am my
ancestors' wildest dreams.”
Harris, who has three degrees from WVU (BA ’82, Psychology, MA ’86, Counseling
Psychology, MD ’92), is AMA's 174th president.
She will focus her tenure on the AMA’s three strategic arcs: attacking the dysfunction
in health care by removing obstacles and burdens that interfere with patient
care; driving the future of medicine by reimagining medical education, training
and lifelong learning, and by promoting innovation to tackle the biggest challenges
in health care; and leading the charge to confront the chronic disease crisis
and improve the health of the nation.
Additionally, Dr. Harris will continue to serve as chair of the AMA Opioid Task
Force, which she has chaired since its inception in 2014, and will work to elevate
the importance of mental health as a part of overall health, health equity and
improving the diversity of the physician workforce, and the impact of childhood
trauma on health.
“
We face big challenges in health care today, and the decisions we make now will
move us forward in a future we help create,” Dr. Harris said. “We are no longer
at a place where we can tolerate the disparities that plague communities of color,
women, and the LGBTQ community. But we are not yet at a place where health equity
is achieved in those communities. We are no longer at a place where underrepresented
groups are not welcome in medicine; but we are not yet at a place where underrepresented
groups are entering, or graduating, from medical schools at the rates of their
peers.
"The saying ‘if you can see it, you can believe it’ is true, she continued. "And
I hope to be tangible evidence for young girls and young boys and girls from
communities of color that you can aspire to be a physician. Not only that, you
can aspire to be a leader in organized medicine.”
First elected to the AMA Board of Trustees in 2011, Dr. Harris has held the executive
offices of AMA board secretary and AMA board chair. In addition to her leadership
position with the AMA Opioid Task Force, Dr. Harris has been active on several
other AMA task forces and committees on health information technology, payment
and delivery reform, and private contracting. She has also chaired the influential
AMA Council on Legislation and co-chaired the Women Physicians
Congress.
Prior to her AMA service, Dr. Harris was elected to the American Psychiatric Association
Board of Trustees and president of the Georgia Psychiatric Physicians Association.
She was also the founding president of the Georgia Psychiatry Political Action
Committee. In 2007, Dr. Harris was selected Psychiatrist of the Year by the Georgia
Psychiatric Physicians Association.
On both national and local levels, Dr. Harris has spearheaded efforts to integrate
public health, behavioral health and primary care services, while incorporating
efforts to address the social determinants of health.
Currently, Dr. Harris continues in private practice and consults with both public
and private organizations on health service delivery and emerging trends in practice
and health policy. She is an adjunct assistant professor in the Emory Department
of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and an adjunct clinical assistant professor
in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Morehouse School of Medicine.
A native of Bluefield, W. Va., Dr. Harris received her medical degree from the
West Virginia University School of Medicine and completed a psychiatry residency
and child psychiatry fellowship at Emory University School of Medicine. She was
inducted in 2007 to the West Virginia University Academy of Distinguished Alumni.