FEBRUARY EDITION, VOLUME 2020, NO. 2
A MESSAGE FROM YOUR 2020 CAPITAL MEDICAL SOCIETY PRESIDENT By Ken Whithaus, M.D., CMS President Looking back at the outstanding men and women who have served as CMS President, it is truly an honor to be counted among them. I will do my best to live up to the high standard that has been set by so many physicians, all of whom I look up to and respect. Speaking of looking back...Happy 2020! Welcome to the new decade. As we start this time of year, I always find myself reflecting back on the year that has passed. What went well, what did not, how I succeeded and how I failed; what surprises happened this year, both good and bad. But this year, with the start of a new decade, I have found my reflection back to be somewhat different, more broad in its depth. As we start a new ten years, the 2020’s, I bet that type of self-reflection is true for many of you as well. And while past contemplation can be good, the point is not to dwell on the past, but to bring focus on to what will come next. To think and to plan for the future. So I ask you; how do you see yourself, your practice, your family, your community changing? How does this look to you over the next six months, in a year, five years, and even ten years when 2030 gets here? Because as most of you know, time can go by very quickly. Over ten years’ time, physicians in their middle practice years (of which I would now count myself) will be close to becoming the most senior in our practices. Those who are the most senior will be looking at retiring, and those who have just started...well, you will get to the stage I feel that I am now starting; the middle years. But it’s not simply arriving at these years that matters, it’s what we do during them that will affect our patients and community. As anyone who has gone to medical or
dental school knows, we do not get to the end of a one year, five year or ten-year journey without planning and consideration for how you will get there. So I invite you to take time and reflect on where you have been and where you can help our community go in this new decade. For me, to reflect back brings into light my time in CMS over the last several years. My role started, as I am sure so did most of yours, by attending a few meetings and social events as a new physician in the community. I found CMS to be a great vehicle to meet and connect to people outside of the traditional work setting. A few years later and I was asked to consider becoming more involved and possibly serving on the board (thank you Dr. Neal). From there I had the opportunity to work on a few of the other committees; all the while getting to continue to build connections with other physicians. At some point I was asked by a good friend, who is also a local doctor, “What is the point of CMS? I get my CME’s online.” Well, after many, many 7:00 am CMS meetings and the occasional night away from my family I thought, “Hmm that is a good question.” And in all seriousness, I think that it is a question we should all ask when we are in reflection over how we spend our time, especially when starting a new decade; as our time is not unlimited. I did have a response for that person, and it was something along the lines of our mission statement. “Well, it helps me to promote the practice of medicine for the ultimate benefit of the patient.” And while this definition is true, as I thought of it more, my experience became more personal. The point for me could really be summed up by the last word in our title, “society.” To be a society means to work and struggle, and celebrate together as a group for a common cause. And the more I have thought of it, that is what CMS is to me. With the key CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
CAPITAL MEDICAL SOCIETY 2020 MEETINGS CALENDAR February 18, 2020 CMS Membership & CME Meeting Decisions Through Our Stages of Life: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Panelists: Ben Bowersox, Jana McConnaughhay, PA, Kelly O’Keefe, and Melissa Wright 6:00 pm Maguire Center for Lifelong Learning at Westminster Oaks
February 19, 2020 “Do No Harm: Exposing the Hippocratic Hoax” Documentary and Discussion Hosted by the Capital Medical Society Foundation’s Physician Wellness Program and the FSU College of Medicine 7:00 pm (Dinner not provided) FSU College of Medicine Main Campus Auditorium (1115 West Call Street) *Physicians, Dentists, and their Spouses welcomed CONTINUED ON PAGE 14