SEPTEMBER EDITION, VOLUME 2016, NO. 9
YOUR PRESIDENT’S EXPERIENCE AT THE 2016 FMA ANNUAL MEETING By J. Daniell Rackley, M.D., CMS President As your Capital Medical Society president, I had the privilege of attending the 2016 Florida Medical Association Annual Meeting in Orlando at the end of July. As luck would have it, it was Capital Medical Society’s turn to chair our Northwest Florida Caucus. For those of you who do not know, CMS’s 10 FMA delegates meet with FMA delegates from Escambia County and Emerald Coast (Panama City) Medical Societies to discuss pending resolutions that will be voted upon at the FMA House of Delegates second session. This process shapes FMA’s legislative agenda. Since I am the current CMS president, I got to chair the caucus that met Saturday and Sunday mornings from 6-8 a.m. I have to say, this seemed pretty daunting, as I have never served as an FMA delegate before. Other seasoned CMS delegates and CMS staff, including Pam Wilson and Shannon Boyle provided invaluable help and encouragement to help me chair the caucus. Your delegates to this year’s meeting were Dr. Alma Littles, Dr. Josh Somerset, Dr. Michael Forsthoefel, Dr. John Bailey, Dr. Alfredo Paredes, Dr. Christie Alexander, Dr. John Mahoney, Dr. Gary Winchester, and Dr. Hugh VanLandingham. Also, Dr. Andrea Friall, who was representing the OB/GYN specialty society as a delegate, attended our caucus meetings
and provided helpful insight. Your delegates were among the strongest representation at the FMA and provided Capital Medical Society earned the top spot and outstanding trophy as the FMA PAC 1000+ Club fundraising leadership for winner for the weekend! your medical society. They are truly an extremely knowledgeable, wellinformed group and provided tremendous insight to the entire meeting process. Many delegates sat on Reference Committees or the Rules and Credentials Committee. Dr. Alexander chaired Reference Committee III (Legislation). Having spent time rotating between the Reference Committee meetings, Reference Committee III was the most well-run and organized thanks to Dr. Alexander’s outstanding leadership. I would encourage any of you who run into these delegates to thank them personally for providing such outstanding representation for CMS members at this meeting.
The highlight of the meeting was the nomination and election of CMS member, Dr. John Katopodis, as the 2016-17 Florida Medical Association President-Elect. Dr. Michael Forsthoefel formally nominated Dr. Katopodis at the House of Delegates opening session. In his nominating speech, Dr. Forsthoefel CMS Delegates: (l-r) Dr. Gary Winchester, Dr. John Bailey, Dr. Joshua Somerset, stated that Dr. Katopodis “is a strong Dr. Alfredo Paredes, Pam Wilson, member of Florida Medical Association Dr. J. Daniell Rackley, Dr. Alma Littles, PAC and, residing in Tallahassee, he has Dr. Christie Alexander, Shannon Boyle, and Dr. Hugh VanLandingham. (Not pictured: Dr. been very active in lobbying FMA issues and vetting candidates for the legislature Michael Forsthoefel and Dr. John Mahoney) CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
CAPITAL MEDICAL SOCIETY 2016 MEETINGS CALENDAR September 8, 2016 CMS Meet the Candidates Forum 5:30 pm Goodwood Museum Carriage House
September 20, 2016 CMS Membership & CME Meeting America’s End of Life Ethical Dilemma: Is there a Time When It Is OK to Die? Monica Williams-Murphy, M.D., Huntsville Hospital, author of “It’s OK to Die” 6:00 pm Maguire Center for Lifelong Learning at Westminster Oaks Spouses Welcome ($20 fee)