PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

On Physicianhood

As the new President of SSVMS, I've been taking the opportunity to reflect on my philosophy of being a physician and being a part of organized medicine.

In short, physicians have a duty to care for our patients. This means we treat them, but we also must be patient advocates as well.

We owe it to our patients to advocate in our clinics, practices, and hospitals. But it goes beyond that; we have to be organized to advocate for them to our legislators and regulators on the local, state, and federal levels.

Thankfully, we aren't starting from scratch. The infrastructure to accomplish this has been established more than 150 years ago by our predecessors.

I look forward to working with you and our SSVMS staff to shape health policy at every level to ensure that our healthcare system going forward reflects our values. There are a lot of ways we can be part of the solution even in the various systems we're apart of. We have to be proactive in shaping all organizations that deliver healthcare in our region. By being active on committees, by partnering with each other and administration in our hospitals and clinics, we can ensure our voices are not only heard, but incorporated into the fabric of care wrapped around each of our patients.

I ask you to join me and get involved in our advocacy efforts in any way that you can.

Finally, I want to acknowledge the work of those that came before me: J. Bianca Roberts, MD, Paul D. Reynolds, MD, and more. SSVMS has been extremely fortunate to have had so many strong leaders and I hope to add to that legacy.

Thank you!

Vanessa Walker, DO

SSVMS President

SSV MEDICINE MAGAZINE

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