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LAST CHANCE FOR FREE CME SCMS/MSMS 2023 Membership Dues Now Payable
SCMS/MSMS 2023 MEMBERSHIP DUES NOW PAYABLE
Free CME for Your SCMS/MSMS Membership Renewal by November 30
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As a thank you for your loyalty as a member of the SCMS/ MSMS and for paying early all physicians who pay their 2023 dues in full by November 30 will receive a $100 coupon towards a CME course at an MSMS educational session. Visit https:// msms.org/lms for upcoming live events and on-demand webinars.
HOW TO PAY
• Online CLICK HERE • Fax to (517) 481-3976 • Mail to: MSMS Membership Department | PO Box 950 East Lansing, MI 48826-0950 • Installment payments available – call (517) 336-5716
Tax Information
SCMS/MSMS dues are not deductible as a charitable contribution but may be deductible as an ordinary and necessary business expense (check with your tax specialist). SCMS dues are 100 percent deductible, and 81.1 percent of MSMS dues are deductible (a portion of MSMS dues is attributable to lobbying activities). The SCMS and MSMS are non-profit organizations focused on improving the lives of physicians so they may best care for the people they serve. Click HERE for Benefits of SCMS Membership. The strength and effectiveness of SCMS/MSMS as your professional association is predicated on strong membership. The free CME course is just a small token of appreciation for your continued support of organized medicine. For questions about membership or if you have not yet received your 2023 dues invoice, please contact Joan Cramer, SCMS Executive Director at jmcramer@sbcglobal.net or (989) 284-8884.
WHY PAY DUES?
• Because all physicians need to “fund their voice.” • National polls show physicians as one of the most respected professions. Sadly, they don’t use their clout often enough to preserve their profession and protect their patients. • There is strength in numbers. Together we are stronger.
If you would like to write an article of interest to your colleagues for publication in a future issue of The Bulletin, please contact Joan Cramer at jmcramer@sbcglobal.net for further information.
Articles are not designed for self-promotion, but rather as information for members.
OFFICE SPACE FOR SALE OR LEASE
Medical Arts Building I 4705 Towne Centre Road, Suite 204 Saginaw, Michigan 48604 2,450 square feet Call for details (989) 284-2659
Anything Goes
By Louis L. Constan, MD
What are little boys made of? Snips and snails And puppy-dogs’ tails, That’s what little boys are made of. What are little girls made of? Sugar and spice And everything nice, That’s what little girls are made of.
This rhyme, common when I was a child, painted a simple picture of humanity; there are boys and girls and they each have their role. Simplistic…and wrong! For several reasons: First, there is no universally recognized definition of what makes one a boy or what makes one a girl; and further, girls can be as capable as boys in any occupation you can think of; and finally, how boys and girls relate (in and out of the bedroom) may not make sense just looking at their anatomy. The world of sexual identity and sexual relationships has expanded hugely, from just boys and girls…to boys and girls plus LGBTQIA’s. That the new categories exist is not in dispute by medical science. Multiple disciplines embrace it: Psychology, Genetics, Endocrinology, Embryology. So why all the fuss right now? Because, although LGBTQIA’s have doubtless been with us since the dawn of humanity, they have largely been out of sight and out of mind. No longer.
The medical community, as a whole, has no trouble with this brave new world, but, for me at least, it is still a lot to wrap my head around. And though I know I’ll never understand why LGBTQIA’s feel the way they do, I know that I’m bound to respect those feelings. Not only is patient autonomy a core principle of medical ethics, tolerance is an enduring American value celebrated by our country’s founding fathers, who believed that people’s freedoms, outside of certain community service or private employment situations, is inviolably private. So, within those parameters, anything people can do they should do. Anything goes. “Anything Goes” is also the name of a great Broadway Musical, brainchild of some of America’s greatest artists, chockfull of brilliant staging and songs, and a perennial favorite since 1934. In the plot, a cross-section of American society, traveling together on an ocean liner, refuse to accept the rigid social, cultural and especially sexual roles of a then Puritan society. The title song tells it all: “Times have changed…and if today…the Puritans landed on Plymouth Rock…Plymouth Rock would land on them.” These 1934 Americans were breaking free from Puritanical ideas of morality. Those Puritans (of whom it was often said, “had a haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy”), if they arrived in America in 1934, would be repudiated and crushed by a giant rock. That 1934 expansion of boy/girl roles has, today, radically expanded to include LGBTQIA equality, bringing a challenge or two for us doctors. What do we say when we open that exam room door? What do we call the patient? What pronoun do we use? There are 78 possible genderassociated pronouns. He/him and she/ her…no longer adequate. Now it’s Zie, Sie, Zim, Zir, etc., etc. What/who? Need to ask. What about those health maintenance/preventive medicine issues? A “woman” may need prostate cancer screening. A “man” could get ovarian cancer. Finally, what specialist colleagues do we call for help? New ones, such as “Gender Reassignment Surgeons.” These challenges though, when you put them in perspective, are not any greater than our usual struggles keeping track of all the new developments in genetics, pharmacology, oncology, microbiology. We can handle this. And we sorely need to. LGBTQIA’s commonly have negative encounters with the medical system. Judgements, refusal of care, PREJUDICE…bad outcomes. We cannot have that.
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If you find it difficult to communicate with your doctor; if you find it hard to get personal attention from an 'impersonal healthcare industry'; if you don't understand all those insurance-company rules; if you don't know how to change your bad health habits; if you think you may be on unnecessary medications; if you are perplexed by those annoying health-product advertisements; and if you'd like to know which are your greatest health risks - you'll appreciate this Family Doctor's advice, gleaned from 44 years of practice. Each chapter is illustrated with real-life examples from his and other doctors' practices. Each chapter ends with 'bonus' essays written by the author and published in newspapers and magazines giving the doctor's viewpoint. This will give you a unique perspective and allow you to 'get into the mind' of a doctor. Sweet! Available on Kindle (different cover but same book) and paperback.
For the public in 1934, “Anything Goes,” was an exuberant celebration by a society that was becoming unshackled from the chains of Puritanism. For the public in 2022, 88 years later, LGBTQIA inclusion means that everybody, not just boys/girls, becomes unshackled from the chains of a judgmental society. If today, those Puritans landed on Plymouth Rock…they’d find a society that respects all forms of human intimate expression. They’d find boy, girl and LGBTQIA. Yes, Anything Goes.
All statements or comments in The Bulletin are those of the writer, and not necessarily the opinion of the Saginaw County Medical Society (SCMS). The Bulletin is made available electronically for members as an informational service. Reliance on any such information is at the user's own judgment. The SCMS, its officers and employees, cannot guarantee the accuracy, reliability, completeness or timeliness of any information, and may not be held liable for any individual’s reliance on our web or print publications. For questions or the latest information, please contact Joan Cramer of the SCMS at (989) 284-8884 or jmcramer@sbcglobal.net.
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Note: No lunch on Wednesday 12/21/22 RETIREES MEET FOR LUNCH!
Retired physicians meet for lunch every Wednesday at 12 noon at IHOP, 2255 Tittabawassee Road in Saginaw. Those attending are responsible for their own lunch, and the informal gathering lasts about an hour. Join your retired colleagues whenever you like! THE GROUP ALWAYS MEETS IN THE BACK ROOM. If you are told no one from the group is there, please go directly to the back room and check for yourself! If you have questions, please contact Joan Cramer at (989) 284-8884 or Dr. Caroline Scott at (989) 295-2721.
safety network Creating a
for our community
Our goal is to save lives through prevention, intervention, and aftercare.
Our Network trains individuals in evidence-based suicide prevention with the hope of destigmatizing suicide, increasing help-seeking behaviors, and caring for those impacted by suicide.
To request trainings or resources, contact info@srrn.net I www.srrn.net I 989.781.5260
Mission: To prevent suicide through education, connection to resources, and support for those impacted by suicide.
Upcoming Opportunities to Support the Network
Saginaw Spirit Mental Health Awareness Night – Saturday, February 11, 2023. Talk Today | Hope for Tomorrow
The Saginaw Spirit welcomes Barb Smith Suicide Resource and Response Network for a fun night of hockey and fundraising. Cheer on the Spirit as they face off against the Windsor Spitfires on Saturday, February 11, 2023, at 7:05 p.m. at the Dow Event Center in Saginaw. The Network will receive $5 for each ticket sold. Purchase tickets online at: https://www.saginawspirit.net/groupsales/, Group ID BARBSMITH, and password SPIRIT.
ASIST Training
Thank you Midland Community Foundation for hosting an ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training). We so appreciate our six CMU Medical Students for your willingness to learn these lifesaving skills!
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is now 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
988 has been designated as the new three-digit dialing code that will route callers to the new Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. The old Suicide Prevention Lifeline phone number (1-800-273-8255) will continue to function indefinitely.
The Lifeline’s network of over 200 crisis centers has been in operation since 2005, and has been proven to be effective. It’s the counselors at these local crisis centers who answer the contacts the Lifeline receives every day. Numerous studies have shown that callers feel less suicidal, less depressed, less overwhelmed and more hopeful after speaking with a Lifeline counselor.
The Department of Health and Human Services released data showing a 45% increase in overall volume in August 2022 compared with August 2021, representing 152,000 more contacts that include calls, chats and texts.
Are you in a crisis? Call 988 or text TALK to 741741.
Third Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. Zion Lutheran Church 545 7th Street, Freeland, Michigan (Behind Pat’s Grocery Store on Midland Road in Freeland) Caduceus meetings are available to health care industry professionals, and have adopted many of the principles of 12-Step programs. Caduceus meetings are “closed” meetings for recovering health care professionals including, but not limited to, nurses, doctors, dentists and pharmacists. We engage in group discussions where members may want to speak up, ask questions or share thoughts with fellow members.
