Statement from Sunny Jha, MD, MS for Councilor-at-Large May 8, 2019 LACMA Elections 1719 Dear LACMA Member, My name is Sunny Jha and I am an Anesthesiologist at USC and I would like to serve as your Councilor-At-Large for LACMA. As a medical student, involvement within the AMA and the AAMC provided valuable leadership training leading to my current service on the Boards of the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians, California Society of Anesthesiologists, GASPAC, the American Society of Pain and Neurosciences and the Veterans Legal Institute. Previously, I served on the Board of the Illinois State Medical Society. Additionally, I am a member of the House of Delegates of the AMA, CMA and CSA. Within the AMA family, I have authored 28 policy resolutions attacking issues such as the opioid epidemic and electronic cigarettes. Within the CMA, I serve on the Council on Health Professions and Quality of Care and have also been active within LACMA's Young Physician Section. My organized medicine experience will enable me to be immediately effective in serving LACMA. I have traveled to Washington DC and Sacramento on a countless number of times to directly engage with our legislators; however, it is my recent trips that have been the most concerning. Legislators are using the terms Medicare-for- all and Medicaid-for-all interchangeably not knowing the dramatic differences between the two systems. This is troubling; however, we must continue to fight and stay engaged. Other issues such as burnout, loan forgiveness, loan consolidation, the scope of practice and the vertical integration of hospitals/medical groups/insurance carriers are also having dramatic effects on medicine and require an ever watchful eye to ensure that our future is secure. If elected to serve as your Councilor, I will work tirelessly to protect and preserve our patients and our profession. Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to the opportunity. Sincerely, Sunny Jha, M.D., M.S. Assistant Clinical Professor of Anesthesiology Director, Health Advocacy and Global Outreach University of Southern California VOTE NOW