As the title says, welcome!
I decided that I wanted to write a medically related blog about three years ago when I had the opportunity to attend an American Medical Association (AMA) sponsored Medical Communications Conference held outside Albuquerque, New Mexico. I met a variety of interesting people there, all with interesting things to say and discuss about health, medicine, medical politics and life in general. At that time, I was President-elect of the New Mexico Medical Society and thought that a blog would be a wonderful way to carry on a running conversation with our members and other interested parties about the direction medicine was going and what we should be doing about it.
It probably would have been just that, except for one thing. I never wrote the first post.
As many of you will know, I am rarely at a loss for words. I try very hard not to speak into every microphone that appears near me, but I pride myself at thinking quickly on my feet and working to distill disparate parts of the conversations of others into a consensus with which a group can move forward. To me, this is the essence of leadership - listening, compiling, speaking up and repeat until the group is moving forward in a unified direction. I enjoy the opportunity to lead and have rarely resisted the urge to step forward, even when unsuccessful at acheiving the desired position. I wish to challenge those in leadership to be better, and to support them in their efforts.
So, why didn't I write that first post? Lousy time management, pain and simple. Lots of demands, dealt with in a haphazard, nonsystematic fashion. The demands no different than those faced by every physician; dealing with patient care, credentialing, paperwork, hospital demands, insurance demands and educational needs. Self-imposed additional loads that come with chasing opportunities in medical politics, hospital leadership and the public face of medicine. Family pressures in caring for my spouse, my children, and our parents and extended families. All the pressures that come with modern life to an ambitious professional.
So, why am I writing this now? The desire is still there, for one. The intriguing challenges and frustrations of our changing healthcare system, the daily struggles of trying to help and make a difference to individual patients, and the opportunities and headaches of herding cats, ummm, doctors, through unwelcome change. Secondly, pride - I said I was going to do this, so here I am. Related to that, shame - I spent a good portion of this afternoon reading blogs by my 21 year old niece and 75 year old uncle, two of the many people I greatly value and respect, and was ashamed that I had not kept this committment to myself.
There will be two separate blogs; PlainsDoc, which you are reading now, dealing with medicine and medical politics, and PlainsDad, dealing with life, family, religion and what's going on in the non-medical parts of my mind. There will be no specific patient stories shared, because I do not wish to be a broker in anecdotes that may embarass anyone individually or to violate privacy laws and statutes (HIPAA, anyone?). Rather, I will discuss my take on medical trends and procedures about 20 - 30% of the time, and spend the rest discussing medical politics, healthcare reform and societal attitudes about medicine in New Mexico, the South Plains, the United States and the World. I am going to attempt to write about twice weekly or more, and I invite any comments that you may have. If you want to know more about PlainsDad, join me over there.
I'll close today with a disclaimer. Nothing that I say in this blog is representative of the opinion of any organization to which I belong - these are my thoughts alone. If I represent the policy of any organization, it will be clearly stated as such and should be accessible elsewhere, as well. I am a proud member of the American Medical Association, New Mexico Medical Society and American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and, if you are eligible, I believe you should be, as well. I have disdain for those who choose to be "free riders," but this forum represents me alone.
Thanks for reading!
