Candidate for election at 2024 Annual Meeting: Rachel Ekaireb, MD

Elections will be held at the Annual Meeting of the House of Delegates on June 11, 2024.

Officers and seven councils are elected by the American Medical Association House of Delegates (HOD) at the Annual Meeting. The elections are conducted during a special election session under the supervision of the Committee on Rules and Credentials and the chief teller, who are appointed by the speakers. The speaker and vice speaker are responsible for overall administration of the elections. Voting is conducted by secret ballot.

2024-2026

I am submitting my candidacy for the Council on Science and Public Health because for me, the mission of the council is at the heart of what drives me to be a physician leader in organized medicine. 

Throughout medical school and residency, I’ve been a passionate advocate for public health issues, particularly addressing social determinants of health, improving the health of marginalized populations and advancing health equity. As a medical student, I helped lead our student-run clinic within San Francisco’s largest homeless shelter and completed a yearlong research fellowship focused on geriatric and palliative care delivery for older adults who are incarcerated.

As a surgery resident I’ve been part of the founding leadership of the University of California Davis chapter of Socially Responsible surgery, a group focused on improving health equity for surgical patients through research, advocacy and education. Through these experiences, I’ve come to understand that public health is broader than disease prevention; it’s food, housing, violence prevention, equitable access to health care, access to a clean environment, the ability to feel safe in public spaces regardless of your race, sex or gender expression.  

In my nine years as an AMA delegate, I’ve felt our House grappling with redefining the scope of public health, and in turn, our responsibility to engage in advocacy on these issues—climate change, health equity. CSAPH can act as a compass, distilling and weighing data to create evidence-based policy, and I will be a strong voice in advancing this work.

• AMA Resident and Fellow Section
• PacWest Conference
• California Medical Association

• University of California–Davis, June 2019-June 2026, residency–general surgery
• University of California–Davis, July 2022-July 2023, fellowship–hospice & palliative medicine
• University of California–San Francisco School of Medicine, May 2019, Doctor of Medicine 
• American Medical Association Council on Science and Public Health, July 2018-June 2019
• California Medical Association Trustee, October 2017-July 2019, October 2023-present
• California Medical Association Council on Science and Public Health, October 2016-October 2017

Please reach out with any questions regarding my candidacy: [email protected].

• Visit the AMA elections page for information on other candidates running for office.
• Find up to date information for the June Annual Meeting of the HOD.