A doctor association is a professional organization or learned society developed to promote high standards in medical education, practice and science. It also works to protect doctors and their patients and advance the profession of medicine. The most well-known physician organizations are the American Medical Association (AMA) and the World Medical Association.

Workers from a variety of fields—warehouse employees, teachers, journalists—are striking or unionizing in droves. The rebellion is catching on in unexpected places, even among physicians who may have been seen as a bulwark of stodgy conservatism. It is time for doctors to speak up, and to make their voices heard in a very different way than has been the case in the past.

As part of the current movement toward greater activism and engagement by workers, a group of physicians has formed a physician-led organization called Progressive Doctors, which is mobilizing physicians around Medicare for All, which would expand the country’s national health insurance to cover all Americans without reducing doctors’ payments or increasing costs. In addition, groups such as Physicians for a New Vision and the American Academy of Family Physicians have sprung up to provide platforms for physicians to express their views on healthcare and other issues.

These new groups are demonstrating that the old ways of doing things are not working anymore, and that physicians need a stronger unified voice at both the state and national levels. They have a lot to learn from their counterparts in other industries who have been pushing for change, such as the nurses’ union that is currently organizing a strike against the health system over pay and conditions.

The AMA has tried many different initiatives to stem its membership decline and remain relevant at the national level, including launching task forces to attract new members, offering tiered memberships that cater to different career stages, and creating electronic tools for doctors to use in their practices. Nevertheless, the organization is in trouble and must do something dramatically different.

For more than 165 years, the AMA has been a steadfast champion of health care and the medical profession. The AMA provides its more than 50,000 members with a range of practice tools and services, and supports physicians in their efforts to improve the quality of patient care and the safety of the public. The AMA also engages in policymaking and political advocacy on behalf of its members, including the development of new drugs, the promotion of health maintenance activities, the prevention of disease through screening, and support for the medical education and research of undergraduates and physicians.

The AMA’s most prominent initiatives include the AMA Code of Medical Ethics, which is a guide to ethical practice; the AMA Physician Master File that contains data on United States physicians; and the Current Procedural Terminology, a system of standardized terms for medical procedures used for coding and billing purposes. The AMA is also a publisher of journals, books and other educational materials for the general public.