FEBRUARY EDITION, VOLUME 2023, NO. 2
A MESSAGE FROM YOUR 2023 CAPITAL MEDICAL SOCIETY PRESIDENT By Sarah Ko, M.D., PhD, CMS President I feel very lucky to call you colleagues and friends. I am regularly awed and inspired by each of you. The cumulative years of education among our membership, the total hours spent listening and counseling patients, the diversity of people – in age, color, gender. Truly, I am humbled by you and so honored to serve as your president. I remember growing up in Tallahassee almost 40 years ago – the fly-over from Thomasville Road to Capital Circle had not been built yet, there was no Starbucks, no Trader Joe’s, and the newest school was Desoto Trail. Gas was 99 cents a gallon. FSU was an undefeated football team. That seems like so long ago. I came up through the public school system, and had some amazing teachers who inspired me. Once in a while, I’ll see one of my former teachers as a patient. First, I think to myself, thank goodness they’ve forgiven me for my teenage antics! And second, what an honor to be able to take care of someone who has given me so much. They probably didn’t know all those years ago, that the student who sat in front of them, would one day operate on them, and be inside their eyeball! For those of you who teach, maybe lecture at the medical school, or who have students or residents shadow you – you may inspire someone! Not only has the city of Tallahassee changed, but so has the practice of medicine. Now we worry about EMR’s, reimbursement cuts, scope of practice encroachments, or who is allowed to prescribe medications. Did you think when you went to medical school that anyone other than a doctor could prescribe medication? I’m told we should expect more scope-of-practice fights in the legislature this year, as it’s not an election year, so politicians may be more open to bringing controversial topics. As many of you know, I did my glaucoma fellowship at Moorfields
Eye Hospital in London. In many ways, the National Health Service was the same as American medicine. Glaucoma patients still needed lower eye pressure. There were differences too. Instead of 20/20, they said “6/6” because of the metric system. Patients received free care and paid £6 (about $8) for all medications; and in exchange, they accepted that they might wait four hours in the clinic waiting area or 3 months for routine surgery. Physicians received a salary – significantly lower than the average American physician salary. Clinics were so overbooked and understaffed, we often reviewed lists to find lower-acuity patients to call and reschedule for a later date. It was not unusual for a patient to have one doctor counsel a patient for surgery, another doctor perform the surgery, and a third do his or her follow-up. I remember meeting a patient on the day of their surgery, and they asked me, “Doctor, will I ever see you again?” I paused for a moment almost shocked, and then it dawned on me, we will probably never see each other again. I am doing this amazingly intimate thing, operating on them, but in terms of human connection, we’re like two ships in the mist. It would be naïve to think that the environment does not affect how we practice medicine. Training in the UK was the best professional and personal decision of my life – I worked hard, gained valuable clinical experience, and met my husband – but I also learned how good we have it in America. And we need to protect the way we are able to practice and care for our patients. Capital Medical Society sends delegates to the FMA annual meeting each year, to advocate for us, to protect our ability to practice medicine the way we feel is best. Quint Studer, at our November membership meeting this past year, pointed out that we need to refill our gas tanks to be able to serve others. He recommended 3-5 compliments for every negative. Sometimes our work gives us that ratio, but many days it doesn’t. I remember CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
CAPITAL MEDICAL SOCIETY 2023 MEETINGS CALENDAR February 28, 2023 CMS Membership & Educational Meeting Demystifying Investing in Real Estate to Diversify Your Portfolio 6:00 pm Maguire Center for Lifelong Learning at Westminster Oaks
March 30, 2023 CMS Celebration Awards Dinner 6:30 pm Dunlap Champions Club at FSU
April 18, 2023 CMS Membership & CME Meeting Updates on Surgical and Non-Surgical Bariatric Interventions Joey Jarrard, M.D. and Greg Laffitte, PA 6:00 pm Maguire Center for Lifelong Learning at Westminster Oaks CONTINUED ON PAGE 17 CONTINUED ON PAGE 9