Tomorrow (Tuesday – September 16, 2014) I will have the honor of speaking to a gathering of mostly retired physicians at the Kentucky Medical Association’s annual meeting in Louisville, KY.
Given this opportunity, what would you say to them?
What would you encourage them to do?
How would you instill hope that our nation’s healthcare delivery system will survive?
I only have a few hours to hone my message. I need your help.
Please leave your remarks in this blog’s comments section…
Or send me a message on Twitter @jamespmurphymd
Or email me at: basicpaincare@gmail.com
Thanks!
Dr M
Confluential Truth 
I just chatted with Dr. Sandeep Jauhar. Thanks for the feedback!
http://www.sandeepjauhar.com
WILL YOU STILL LOVE THIS* TOMORROW?
(*a career in medicine)
~ with apologies to Carole King
To fight poor health discreetly
You gave your self completely
You might have loved your medical career
But will you love this tomorrow?
Is care a hope to treasure
Or something you must measure?
Can you believe the tragic change in sight?
Will you still love this tomorrow?
Faced with healthcare that’s broken
You say that you are only “one”
But you won’t feel like jokin’
When your right to a choice is gone
You’d like to show that you love
To give what we’re in need of
So tell yourself to face that task again
And you’ll still love this tomorrow?
GLMS NEWS (October 2014) pg 5
Click to access 1014GLMSNews.pdf
I felt immensely honored to be speaking before the CATO Society of retired physicians. Present among this gracious gathering were many of the professors responsible for giving me the skills to do it “my way.”
Ironically, the future of healthcare may depend upon the past. It is as though my generation of physicians is a “lost generation.” We emerged on the scene as the reimbursements for our services were peaking. This may have spoiled us. We may be in too deep to turn it around.
However, as the current crop of new doctors sprout, the secret to a bountiful harvest may depend upon cultivation by those who remember what it was like to do it for the “right” reasons.