Page 8 - Layout 1

PRESIDENT’S
MESSAGE

MOVING FORWARD TO RESTORE

THE PRIMACY OF PHYSICIANS

IN MEDICINE

By Adam Ratner, MD, 2019 BCMS President

“Doctors are next to God,” my grandfather, who wasn’t a physi- chairs working with staff are the vital force of BCMS, who in turn,
cian, told me more than 50 years ago. He wasn’t referring to eco- serve our members.
nomic power or social status but instead to the immense To continue its long history of success, the BCMS must contin-
responsibility to their patients and awesome power to heal that uously improve and adapt not only to meet the current challenges
physicians have in their sacred calling. of the day but also to maximize its effectiveness in the future. The
I started making rounds with my dad at the hospital, again, more BCMS must take the lead in advocating for as many Bexar County
than 50 years ago. With the exception of the rare grouch in the physicians as possible. To do this we must continuously find ways
surgical lounge, I saw dedicated and happy physicians and surgeons, to add more value for current members and, just as importantly,
nurses, staff and even hospital administrators who found joy in attract new ones.
their respective healing missions. They also seemed to be working An excellent example of this is the Physician Leadership pro-
together in teams for the benefit of their patients, and the patients gram spearheaded by Dr. Gross. We plan to expand and further
came first. develop this highly successful program. In the next few weeks we
We will never go back to those days in the last millennium, and will invite participants in the leadership program as well as other
that is overall for the good. Medical science and technology have motivated and visionary physicians to engage in a strategic planning
advanced, and as a country we have far greater economic power program to find new ways we can best serve and advocate for
available to expend on health. What we have lost, however, is the Bexar County physicians.
primacy of the individual patient and the physician as chief patient We must find new ways to address the needs of employed physi-
advocate and healer. We have been driven farther and farther away cians. More and more of us who were in private practices now find
from God, my grandfather might say. ourselves employed by organizations we don’t control or even sig-
Many in politics and healthcare management and finance seem nificantly influence. Most new physicians out of training are also
to believe that physicians are fungible commodities and will soon joining such organizations. Unfortunately, many of these employed
be largely replaced by artificial intelligence computers and robots. physician jobs come with onerous one-sided contracts which disem-
As we know all too well, the consequences of their decisions lead power us, often making us relatively well-paid indentured servants.
to the increasing frustration and dissatisfaction with our profession Academic medicine is growing rapidly in Bexar County. We now
and healthcare systems as well as adverse experiences and poorer have two vibrant and growing medical schools headquartered in
outcomes for our patients. San Antonio with at least two other schools bringing students to
The Bexar County Medical Society has been supporting and ad- San Antonio for part of their training. We have a growing number
vocating for physicians and their patients for more than 165 years. of civilian and military residency and fellowship programs, but we
The BCMS has a strong foundation and has historically been very need many, many more to meet the physician shortages in our com-
well served by our physician leadership teams, most recently under munity as well as nationally. I am heartened to see high levels of
the presidency of Dr. Sheldon Gross. Our amazing and dedicated cooperation and synergy between the academic institutions with
BCMS staff, capably led by our Executive Director, Mr. Steve multiplier benefits for the institutions, their faculty, trainees and
Fitzer, insures the operational and financial success of the organ- the community. One great example of this is the MEDCAST mag-
ization. The BCMS committees and their respective members and net high school project spearheaded by Dr. Ron Rodriguez, a senior

8 San Antonio Medicine • January 2019