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practitioners, science and technology innovators, and the general community. We aim to fill each issue with informative, educational, engaging content about Philadelphia medicine and health care. We will put a human face on the practice of medicine with articles written by or about local physicians and other health care and social service professionals. In this, our inaugural issue, we hear from the renowned Paul Offit, M.D., on what is preventing a significant percentage of children in our area from getting vaccinated, and what impact that has on public health. That article spurred us on to explore Philadelphia’s population health issues with Jim Beuhler, M.D., the city’s director of Public Health. We also focus on the debate in the Pennsylvania legislature on medical marijuana, as a bill appears to be inching closer to passage. And we hear from Pennsylvania Physician General Rachel Levine speaking about the timely topic of the flu at her Philadelphia press conference, hosted at the Philadelphia County Medical Society office.
We also identify some pressing practice management and care delivery items currently being addressed by the Pennsylvania Medical Society—issues that affect physicians, health care networks and patients. We hope you also find enlightening, the editorial perspectives on LBGT health issues and nurse practitioner independence, written by some of our area medical students. And, finally, we celebrate a number of our outstanding peers within the physician community, recognizing their service and achievements.
EDITORIAL BOARD Michael DellaVecchia, MD William S. Frankl, MD Corina Graziani, MD Alan Miceli, MA Stephen L. Schwartz, MD Paul D. Siegel, MD
We invite you to give us feedback about the stories you read in our magazine and about the magazine in general, and to also send us suggestions and story ideas for future issues. Our email address is: Editor@philamedsoc. org. We also ask you to share this magazine with your peers and patients. It’s another opportunity to provide service to our professional and patient-centered communities.
Winter 2016 : Philadelphia Medicine
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