EDITORIAL: Change Is in the Air

Irina deFischer, MD

Whave much to celebrate this time of yearWe have much to celebrate this time of year—new officers, new board members, a new magazine editor and, hopefully, a renewed interest in the Marin Medical Society!

The editorial board thanks Steve Osborn, who stepped down in February, for his seven years at the helm, having shepherded us through the transition from bulletin to award-winning magazine. He is now involved in a number of other projects and continues to edit Sonoma Medicine.

The new editor of Marin Medicine, Howard Daniel, is new not only to our publication, but to the North Bay. Now living in Santa Rosa with his wife Sandra, he moved here, following a 27-year sojourn in Hawaii, to be closer to kids and grandkids, all of whom are on “the mainland,” including one, a nurse, in this area. Howard has been writing and editing for most of his life, but he turned it into a career only at age 50, when he was hired as the speechwriter for Hawaii’s governor. He then served as publications manager for one of Hawaii’s largest corporations and vice president for editorial services at the state’s premier public relations firm, where he reviewed and strengthened all written output “before it went out the door.” Since arriving in the Bay Area, he has been working as a writing and editing freelancer, Pen-for-Rent.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Howard majored in Russian area studies at Yale, then earned an M.A. in the same field at Harvard before embarking on the first part of his career—in international relations. He began as a Peace Corps volunteer working with farmers in a north-central Indian village, then joined the U.S. Foreign Service, which took him to embassies and consulates in Brazil and the USSR. He reports that his familiarity (now rather rusty) with Russian, Hindi and Portuguese has sharpened his understanding of the English language.

We are looking forward to working with Howard!

There are changes afoot in CMA as well—a move from the traditional annual House of Delegates deliberations to a year-round online format that solicits input from the membership as issues come up.

In light of all our recent accomplishments—the defeat of Proposition 46, the repeal of the SGR, the GPCI fix—it is sobering to see declining membership numbers. Did you know that in Marin County this year only 18% of physicians are dues-paying members of the MMS and CMA? Although only members have access to purchasing discounts as well as legal and practice-management support, all physicians benefit from CMA’s legislative advocacy. Why are so few of us willing to pay to keep our organizations going?

This is analogous to the declining rate of immunization among our county’s children. The parents of unimmunized children count on herd immunity—other parents immunizing their children—to protect their own children from childhood diseases without exposing them to the imagined risks of vaccines. This works up to a point—until the percentage of immunized children drops below the threshold needed to maintain effective herd immunity.

There is strength in numbers—the MMS and CMA have greater credibility, not to mention resources, when we are seen to represent the majority of practicing physicians from all specialties and modes of practice. It is easy for us to get caught up in the day-to-day demands of patient care, the juggling of work and home life, and to assume our medical groups and/or specialty societies will look out for our best interests. They will do that, up to a point, but in the end we are far more powerful when we join forces. Please renew your membership and encourage your non-member friends and colleagues to join. Together we are stronger!

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Dr. deFischer, a family physician at Kaiser Petaluma, is chair of the Marin Medicine editorial board.

Email: irina.defischer@kp.org