Dennis Mayeaux, MD
FAFP President |
President's Welcome Letter
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"Nothing endures but change." Hericlitus (circa 2600 B.C. Ephesus)
Now is the moment we have been waiting for. Family Medicine has its golden opportunity to take the lead in shaping the future of health care delivery in our country. Your Florida Academy is engaged on all fronts in reaffirming the role of the Family Physician as a cornerstone of that future.
In our recent presidential election ‘Change’ was the theme of the winning campaign. Usually campaign themes are just that, themes. After the election we go back to business as usual with a few minor twists regardless of the ideology or party affiliations of the winner. A few weeks prior to this election, however, the economies of the world, the nation, and we Americans were altered in a way that made change and uncertainty part of the fabric of our daily lives. Things will change this time.
Events are now moving around us at a pace and magnitude that make it impossible to predict tomorrow. Whether speaking about our personal future, professional future, or the future for our children and succeeding generations, we all have an instinctive need to plan for that future.
The FAFP is actively involved in conversations to shape those changes with traditionally unnatural partners. The dialogue with state and national legislative bodies, insurance providers, and regulatory agencies is ongoing and likely to result in genuine transformations in how we conduct our day to day practices.
What can you do?
First, stay informed. Get online and read eBYTES, your email newsletter with weekly updates about things that matter to you. On the FAFP website read Capitol Updates, and the Florida Family Physician, the FAFP’s quarterly journal, or share your opinion in the”FAFP Family Doctors Lounge.”
Second, become involved in the fashion that best fits your talents and interests. Join an FAFP committee, precept a medical student or resident, or become the voice advocacy for Family Medicine within your county medical society.
Third, if you are feeling the universal time pressures most of us experience, make a contribution to the Family MedPAC or the FAFP Foundation so that your colleagues who can invest their time have the tools they need to assist you.
Now is the chance for Family Medicine to stand up and be the voice for changes that bring health care back to the citizens of Florida. How many times have we heard and ignored that old proverb that says “… give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, the courage to change the things which should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.” Change will happen. Let us make it positive!
Dennis Mayeaux, MD
FAFP President
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