Page 10 - Delaware Medical Journal - January 2018
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PRESIDENT’S PAGE
A healthy physician workforce will be imperative if health care transformation is to succeed.
medical school. We are physicians and I will honor that whenever I speak or write during this coming year.
The impact of the looming physician shortage on our workforce is a growing area of concern. It has been projected that by the year 2025, just eight short years away, there will be a loss of approximately 90,000 physicians. While there are many factors contributing
to the shortage, physician burnout, a
1974, is a major one. Current estimates suggest that up to 50 percent of physicians in the United States today are experiencing some level of burnout. Attention to physician well-being must be as important as the efforts to reduce health care costs. A healthy physician workforce will be imperative if health care transformation is to succeed. This will be an important message conveyed in conversations between the Medical Society and our legislators as health care transformation moves forward in Delaware.
I’ve been told that there was a time, in a galaxy far, far away, when the words “medicine” and “politics” were rarely used in the same sentence. Today, they
seem to be irreversibly linked. Beyond the discussions about how health care will be paid for and/or what our health care system will look like, there appears to be a growing interest by legislators
to practice medicine from legislative halls across the country. As physicians and medical societies, this requires our focused attention. A clear and bright
line must exist and be maintained between the decisions made in legislative and exam rooms. No matter how well intended, any legislation that seeks to either dictate the practice of medicine or impacts the patient-physician relationship negatively must be addressed. Political advocacy by physicians for our patients and our profession is critical. The Medical Society of Delaware will continue to advocate for patients and all physicians in Delaware, regardless of practice type, location, or specialty.
In closing, I would like to leave you with a challenge and three wishes.
The challenge comes from Abraham Lincoln’s Second Annual Address to the 37th Congress on December 1, 1862, when he wrote the following: “The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate for the stormy present. The occasion is
rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so must we think anew and act anew.” Lincoln, of course, was referring to the challenge of change facing the country during one of its darkest hours. The challenges facing us with regards to health care do not rise to the same level. However, the assault of change continues and it will not cease. We must continue to think and act anew to meet these help and support, the Medical Society
of Delaware will continue to rise as the leading voice for patients and physicians in our great state.
My three wishes are very simple: Peace and Blessings of the Holiday Season from my family to yours during this magical time of year and for the New Year. “Live long and prosper.” And “May the force be with you.”
Richard W. Henderson, MD
President, Medical Society of Delaware
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Del Med J | January 2018 | Vol. 90 | No. 1
