You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience.
To ensure optimal security, this website will soon be unavailable on this browser. Please upgrade your browser to allow continued use of ACP websites.
Hundreds of curated CME and MOC activities that match your interests and meet your needs for modular education, many free to members.
Browse Activities
The most comprehensive meeting in Internal Medicine.
Los Angeles, CA April 23-25, 2020
Internal Medicine Meeting 2020
Prepare for the Certification and Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Exam with an ACP review course.
Board Certification Review Courses
MOC Exam Prep Courses
Treating a patient? Researching a topic? Get answers now.
Visit AnnalsLearn More
Visit MKSAP 18Learn More
Visit DynaMed
Ensure payment and avoid policy violations. Plus, new resources to help you navigate the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA).
Medicare Resources
Access helpful forms developed by a variety of sources for patient charts, logs, information sheets, office signs, and use by practice administration.
Office Forms
ACP advocates on behalf on internists and their patients on a number of timely issues. Learn about where ACP stands on the following areas:
© Copyright 2019 American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved. 190 North Independence Mall West, Philadelphia, PA 19106-1572 Toll Free: (800) 523.1546 · Local: (215) 351.2400
ACP: Physicians have a right and responsibility to discuss gun violence with their patients
April 10, 2014 — A new policy paper from the American College of Physicians (ACP) offers nine strategies to address the societal, health care, and regulatory barriers to reducing firearms-related violence, injuries, and deaths in the United States. Reducing Firearm-Related Injuries and Deaths in the United States is published today in the peer-reviewed medical journal, Annals of Internal Medicine.
Principal among ACP's nine strategic imperatives is the recommendation to approach firearm safety as a public health issue so that policy decisions are based on scientific evidence. As such, ACP strongly supports universal criminal background checks to keep guns out of the hands of felons, persons with mental illnesses that put them at greater risk of harming themselves or others, people with substance use disorders, and others who current regulations prohibit from owning guns.
The United States has the highest firearm-related mortality rate among industrialized nations. ACP believes that a comprehensive, multifaceted approach is necessary to reduce this epidemic of gun violence and that physicians play a vital role.
"Patients have long trusted their physicians to advise them on issues that affect their health," said Molly Cooke, MD, FACP, president of ACP. "Physicians can play a critical role in educating the public on the risks of firearm ownership and the need for firearm safety through their encounters with their patients. ACP strongly believes the patient-physician relationship should be protected from laws that prevent physicians from initiating a discussion about guns."
To inform its policy position, ACP's Health and Public Policy Committee conducted a comprehensive review of the available data on the impact of access to firearms, mental health, state and federal firearms laws, and efforts to reduce firearms violence. ACP also surveyed a large, nationally representative panel of internists in the United States about their attitudes on firearms and firearm injury prevention.
"We concluded that firearm violence is not just a criminal justice issue, but also a public health threat that requires the nation's immediate attention," said Thomas Tape, MD, FACP, chair of ACP's Health and Public Policy Committee. "As an organization representing physicians who have first-hand experience with the devastating impact of firearm-related violence, ACP has a responsibility to participate in efforts to mitigate needless tragedies."
Survey results suggest that ACP's position is supported by internists. Eighty-five percent of internists surveyed believe that firearm injury is a public health issue and 76 percent support stricter gun control legislation. An overwhelming majority of respondents favor mandatory background checks, mandatory registration of all firearms, and bans on assault weapons, high capacity magazines, and armor-piercing bullets. A full report on the physician survey is published today in Annals of Internal Medicine.
Other recommendations in the policy paper include: