FMA President Guest Speaker at IRCMS Meeting
“The FMA is here to serve as a voice for Florida physicians,” said Florida Medical Association President Dr. Corey L. Howard, as he began his remarks at the January 23 IRCMS meeting.
Addressing the 45 IRCMS members and guests, Dr. Howard spoke about the importance of the FMA, noting that since August, 2018, membership has increased by 3,000.
“As our membership grows it’s important to remember that we play a special role as physicians. What we do defines us, and it is so important that we communicate and look out for each other.”
He then gave an update on 2019 FMA legislative priorities. Howard said that the expansion of the scope of practice for Physician Assistants and Nurse Practitioners is a high priority and very important to the FMA since the FMA is in disagreement with this expansion.
“This is something that the Florida Legislature really wants,” he said. “However, they don’t understand how very important this issue is to us.” He then elaborated on other important FMA initiatives including autonomy, freedom from electronic records, and briefly touched on issues related to the opioid crisis and legislation on prescribing.
Dr. Howard told the gathering that the FMA has launched a healthy living initiative on the FMA Website. The initiative has information on diet, lifestyle, etc. and allows patients to take a targeted look at their health. He encouraged physicians to download the booklet and share with their patients. Physicians can also order 100 at a time printed copies of the booklet to distribute to patients.
Other topics of discussion included physician burnout and wellness, increasing graduate medical education funding, and networking.
He concluded his remarks with the question, “How do we reintroduce the joy of medicine back into doctors’ lives and practices? Back in the day the art of medicine was special. We need to find out what our values are today and what guides them.”
