Getting Involved: Let’s Hear Your Voice!

Now that many of us are getting settled “into” the new academic year, it is also time to start thinking of the new calendar year, and the challenges it will bring. Like many new year’s resolutions, we start thinking about how to improve our lives, both personally and professionally.

In the last issue, we discussed how we can improve our relationships with our patients. We now need to consider how we can improve healthcare for our patients with action that doesn’t directly involve patient care. As we have noted before, one of the things we can do is advocate for our patients. One of the most effective ways we can do that is to get more actively involved with our medical organizations. This can occur at multiple levels—local, state, national, and international; as well as by general and specialty interests.

Here we will consider involvement at the state and local levels. The most basic way, and many times the most effective way, to get involved is to do just that. Find out when and where your local component society meeting will be held and attend it. If you don’t know which component society you belong to, then visit MSMA’s website at www.msma.org or email MSMA at communications@msma.org. If you find your component society is one of those that are inactive, consider gathering a group of fellow physicians in your area to rejuvenate it into being once again.

This segues to the next action item which is to invite other physicians in your area to join you. Things are much easier when you have a friend or colleague with you. Getting others to join you really starts to amplify our medical voice. Additionally, if they are already MSMA members you may help encourage them to become more involved if they realize they won’t be a lone voice in the wilderness.

So how do we amplify the medical voice? We realize that not everyone can leave their practice routinely to lobby for medicine and our patients in Jefferson City during the legislative session. For that reason, we have our own lobbyists to present our concerns and positions to the legislature. They represent us, and only us. We are grateful to have several lobbyists who can cover multiple committee meetings and hearings when they overlap (as they all too often do). What gives strength to our voice is our contributions to the Missouri Medical Political Action Committee (MMPAC). There are several levels of contribution and support which can be tailored to your desires and abilities. Your contributions enable us to more effectively represent you.

Next year, we will hold our Physician Advocacy Day, aka White Coat Day on March 4, 2025. This is one day in which the MSMA, in conjunction with the Missouri Association of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons attend the legislative session in our white coats to personally speak to our Senators and Representatives. It makes quite an impression to have the halls of the State House filled with physicians. Though it may take some planning, please try to arrange your practice needs to allow for your attendance on this day, or at least the morning, so we can maximize our effectiveness.

Lastly, please let your colleagues know of your involvement in organized medicine; and how much our voice would be amplified if they also get more actively involved. This is especially important if we promote membership and active participation to those who, for whatever reasons, have not yet joined our ranks. It would be encouraging to see our ranks grow as we actively work for our patients through advocacy.