MSSNY Members Elected to American Medical Association (AMA) Leadership

For Immediate Release

MSSNY Members Elected to American Medical Association
(AMA) Leadership

Westbury, NY—June 21, 2023— The American Medical Association (AMA), the nation’s largest physician organization, announced the re-election of MSSNY’s Willie Underwood, III, M.D., M.Sc., M.P.H to its Board of Trustees (and 2023-2024 Board Chair); the re-election of MSSNY’s Pratistha Koirala, MD, PhD to its Board of Trustees; and the election of MSSNY’s Daniel Young, MD to the AMA’s Council on Medical Education.

Dr. Willie Underwood has been re-elected to the AMA Board of Trustees and will serve as 2023-24 Board Chair. Dr Underwood is a board-certified urologist in Buffalo, NY with more than 20 years of overall urologic surgery experience, including more than 10 years focused on robotic urologic surgery. He earned his M.D. and M.Sc. from SUNY Upstate Medical University and his M.P.H. from the University of Michigan. Dr. Underwood has been an active leader in organized medicine for decades and was first elected to the AMA Board of Trustees in 2019. He has chaired the AMA Council on Legislation and the AMA Resident and Fellow Section, served as president of the Erie County New York Medical Society, and he is an AMA Delegate from the American Urological Association (AUA).

Dr. Pratistha Koirala has been re-elected to the AMA Board of Trustees. Dr Koirala is a gynecologic surgeon at the Norwalk Community Health Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center in Connecticut, and a health equity fellow at Boston Medical Center and Danbury Hospital. She immigrated to the United States from Nepal when she was a child and attended the University of Connecticut, graduating with a major in biology. She completed her MD, a Master of Science in genetics, and a PhD in molecular pharmacology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Koirala has served in multiple leadership roles in organized medicine, including on the Executive Council of MSSNY and, most recently, as a member of the AMA Political Action Committee Board of Directors. She has represented the AMA Medical Student Section, the AMA Resident and Fellow Section (RFS), and served on multiple reference committees for the AMA House of Delegates, and as a reference committee chair both for the AMA-RFS and for MSSNY. In addition to her work in the AMA, she is an active member of MSSNY, the Connecticut State Medical Society, the New England Delegation, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Dr. Daniel M. Young has been elected to the AMA’s Council on Medical Education. Dr. Young is a family medicine doctor in Johnson City, New York and is affiliated with United Health Services Hospitals-Binghamton. He received his medical degree from SUNY Upstate Medical University and has been in practice for more than 20 years. Dr. Young serves in dual roles as the chair of the family medicine department and residency program director where he has fostered a training environment that welcomes and supports graduates of U.S. MD and DO programs as well as international medical schools. He is knowledgeable in both ACGME and AOA residency training requirements. His vision is in alignment with the AMA’s policy to expand rural health and he is committed to retaining physicians whose diversity matches the community they serve. His passion for these efforts was recognized in 2021 with the New York State Academy of Family Physicians’ (NYSAFP) Family Medicine Educator of the Year Award.

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Founded in 1807, the Medical Society of the State of New York is the state’s principal non-profit professional organization for physicians, residents, and medical students of all specialties. Its mission is to represent the interests of patients and physicians to assure quality healthcare services for all. 

Media Contact:
Roseann Raia | Manager, Communications
Medical Society of the State of New York
865 Merrick Avenue
Westbury, NY 11590
516.488.6100 x302 | [email protected]

Julie Vecchione
Vice President, Communications
Medical Society of the State of New York
865 Merrick Avenue
Westbury, NY 11590
516.488.6100 x340 | [email protected]