Secretary
The Missouri State Medical Association had 3,731 members as of December 2018. This was a net loss of 227 members from our membership of 3,598 as of December 2017. Following is a breakdown according to classification.
| Year | Students | Residents | Active | Honor | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 790 | 173 | 2,585 | 410 | 3,958 |
| 2018 | 835 | 112 | 2,381 | 403 | 3,731 |
| +45 | −61 | −204 | −7 | −227 |
The number of member deaths reported during 2018 totaled 15.
The Committee on Nominations, which is appointed by the President, from the House of Delegates, must submit nominations for the following offices:
Three Vice Presidents to fill the expired terms of Michael Bukstein, MD, Hannibal; William Huffaker, MD, St. Louis; and Robert Gibbons, Jr., MD, Prairie Village, Kansas.
Speaker and Vice Speaker to fill the expired terms of Lancer Gates, DO, Kansas City, Speaker, and Sam Page, MD, Creve Coeur, Vice Speaker.
Three Delegates and One Alternate Delegate to the AMA to fill the vacancies created by the expiration at the conclusion of the 2019 Annual Convention of the terms of Delegates: Elie Azrak, MD, St. Louis; Rebecca Hierholzer, MD, Leawood, Kansas; James Conant, MD, St. Joseph; and Alternate Delegate: Shannon Tai, Lisle, Illinois. The new two-year terms will begin at the conclusion of the 2019 MSMA Annual Convention and end at the conclusion of the 2021 MSMA Annual Convention.
The terms of the following Councilors will expire in 2019: 1st District – Robert Corder, MD, St. Joseph; 2nd District – John Memken, MD, Hannibal; 3rd District – Robert Brennan, Jr., MD, St. Louis; Inderjit Singh, MD, St. Louis; 4th District – Kevin Weikart, MD, Lake St. Louis; 6th District – David Kuhlmann, MD, Sedalia; 7th District – Betty Drees, MD, Kansas City; 8th District – Alexander Hover, MD, Ozark; 10th District – Sharon Wallace, MD, Cape Girardeau; Organized Medical Staff Section – Peggy Barjenbruch, MD, Mexico; Young Physician Section – Ramona Behshad, MD, St. Louis; Resident and Fellow Section – Nathaniel Barbe, DO, Jefferson City; Medical Student Section – Craig Yugawa, St. Louis.
The terms of the following Vice Councilors will expire in 2019: 1st District – Robert T. Weigand, MD, St. Joseph; 2nd District- Sandra Ahlum, MD, Hannibal; 4th District – Keith Ratcliff, MD, Washington; 6th District – Amanda Turner, MD, Nevada; 8th District – Brian Curtis, MD, Joplin; 10th District – Douglas Wallace, MD, Cape Girardeau; Organized Medical Staff Section – James Conant, MD, St. Joseph; Young Physician Section – Sarah Florio, MD, Lee’s Summit; Resident and Fellow Section – Daniel Young, MD, St. Louis; Medical Student Section – Scott Berndt, Kansas City.
Delegates shall meet during the Annual Convention to elect the Councilors and Vice-Councilors for their respective districts and sections. The election shall be certified to the House of Delegates on the prescribed form which will be furnished.
The entire session will be held at the Westin Kansas City at Crown Center Hotel, Kansas City, Missouri. The House of Delegates will hold its First Session on Friday, April 5, 2019, at 8:00 a.m. and the Second Session on Sunday, April 7, 2019, at 8:15 a.m.
Registration facilities will be open on Thursday, April 4, at 3:30 p.m.; Friday, April 5, at 6:30 a.m. and Saturday, April 6, at 6:30 a.m. Registration will be in the Century Foyer.
Alliance
The Alliance year began in March 2018 during the MSMA convention in St Louis when the 2018–2019 Alliance officers were installed. Mary Shuman from St. Joseph was the installing officer. Gill Waltman was installed as president, and Diana Corzine as president-elect. Also installed were vice presidents Kelly O’Leary (Health), Kirk Doan (Legislation), Shweta Agarwal (Membership), Sana Saleh (Recording Secretary) and Debora Snyder (Treasurer.)
Look on the Bright Side was the theme selected by Mrs. Waltman (a quote from Monty Python, for any British humor enthusiasts!). Those who know her will confirm she’s always been an optimist. It appealed to her as a theme because there are many reasons for people to feel depressed or unhappy, from economic problems, natural disasters, the political climate, health-related issues including the opioid crisis and - within our own ranks - the wearing down of the medical profession from all sides creating the need to defend medicine and patients from public opinion, invasive hospital and insurance influences, and scope-of-practice usurpers.
Mrs. Waltman presided over an Alliance executive board meeting on May 16 in Columbia. Additional officers were appointed to the board and all members presented their plans for the year. Kathy Weigand was appointed as the vice president for Foundations after the elected officer resigned.
At the AMA Alliance annual meeting in Chicago in June, MSMA Alliance Past President Sue Ann Greco was sworn in as the national Board Secretary, along with President Cami Pond and her new officers. Missouri had excellent representation at the meeting.
An AMA Alliance initiative to promote happy families and combat physician burnout established, with the support of the AMA, a Physician Family Day on Saturday, August 25, 2018. Many counties planned family outings or events on that date for local physician communities. Plans are to hold this event annually on the last Saturday in August.
The Alliance Fall Conference was held Oct 10–11 at Westminster College in Fulton. Donna Corrado was appointed as conference coordinator. We received a warm welcome from Dr. David Roebuck, the Dean of Academic Affairs. There was an enthusiastic attendance comprised of Alliance members and undergraduate students, many of whom were pre-med.
Tuesday’s program focused on the opioid epidemic and comprised two different sessions. Identifying the Challenges Facing Missouri’s Criminal Justice System and The Addiction Epidemic: A Community Problem with a Community Solution. Speakers included the Director of the Re-Entry program at the Missouri Department of Corrections in Jefferson City, and a licensed professional counselor in addiction counseling from St. Louis. Health vice president Kelly O’Leary joined the other speakers for an animated panel discussion with great audience interaction, especially from the students. This was followed by a private tour of the Marylebone Church and Churchill Museum and an evening Dutch treat event at the Buckshot Saloon in Kingdom City. MSMA President Dr. Joe Corrado gave an update on problems facing organized medicine from his visits to medical societies within Missouri and the contiguous states.
At the October MSMA Council meeting a token check was presented by the Alliance to Dr. Lisa Thomas of Missouri Physicians Health Program. Donations amounting to $1000 were received from individual Alliance board members to recognize Marsha Conant for her year of service as Alliance President.
The Alliance Holiday Sharing Card was published with donor names in December in Show Me Alliance News, Missouri Medicine, and on the MSMA website. Proceeds from donations amounted to more than $3,000 to benefit the Foundations. Thanks to all who participated.
The Alliance hosted many charity and fundraising events over the holidays to provide support for local food banks, a mobile food drive, shelters, school programs and local charities.
The Alliance Day at the Legislature was held February 20 in Jefferson City following the winter board meeting the previous day. Legislative Vice President Kirk Doan organized the event, coordinating his efforts with the staff at MSMA. Sen. Bob Onder volunteered his office at the Capitol as the base of operations. Speaking as a physician and legislator, he discussed the various issues affecting medicine before leaving for his busy day. Alliance members visited many legislators, requesting support for the Prior Authorization Reform bill [HB 751; SB 298] and the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program [HB 188]. Attendance at the senate hearing for SB 298 with Sen. Onder presiding was most informative.
The MSMA Alliance Annual Meeting will be held in conjunction with the MSMA convention in Kansas City April 4–6. The Alliance Foundation Fundraiser Dinner will be held on Friday April 5 at the Westin. In honor of Mrs. Waltman’s theme for this year Look on the Bright Side, it is called The British Invasion! Kathy Weigand is chairing the event.
Current Alliance Issues: Pertinent issues discussed at board meetings this year included maintaining membership numbers and also identifying current members to take on leadership positions. The Alliance is working to increase membership, round up former members and recruit new ones and hopes to produce an updated directory. Efforts are being made to retain the dissolved Boone County Medical Association Alliance members, at least as direct members of the MSMA Alliance, and to re-form a local Alliance. The main reason for the Boone demise was not lack of member numbers but lack of volunteers to step up to leadership positions.
Sympathies were sent to Millie Bever on the loss of her husband Grant Bever, MD, who passed away in June after a long illness. And we mourn the loss of Carol Jean DeFeo, a past state Alliance president and stalwart Alliance member, a mentor, treasure, and friend to so many.
Continuing Medical Education
The Commission reviewed and approved the following accreditation actions:
Greene County Medical Society-Springfield, MO
Lake Regional Health System-Osage Beach, MO
North Kansas City Hospital-Kansas City, MO
Cape Girardeau County Area Medical Society-Cape
Girardeau, MOCapeCGirardeau, MO
The following entities submitted Progress Reports that were approved by the Commission:
Esse Health-St. Louis, MO
St. Francis Medical Center-Cape Girardeau, MO
The MSMA sent a letter to the CEOs of MSMA-accredited providers requesting nominations for the CME commission. The letter was a great tool to secure new Commission members and recruit new MSMA members. As a result of the letter, four new members joined the MSMA. Additionally, the four new members were appointed to the CME Commission.
The Commission planned and approved the 2018 Annual Convention CME Program approved for 14.00 hours of AMA PRA Category 1 CreditsTM. Additionally, the program was approved for 9 American Board of Internal Medicine Maintenance of Certification Points.
Following the Annual Convention, attendees were able to participate in an online survey that measured outcomes based on questions designed by the Commission.
In 2018 the following entities withdrew from accreditation:
Kansas City Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology Society
St. Louis Metropolitan Medical Society
SSM St. Mary’s Jefferson City
The Missouri State Medical Association currently accredits twenty-four entities statewide. MSMA staff conducted a spring and fall new staff training at MSMA headquarters. The Commission approved an increase in the accredited provider Annual Maintenance Fee from $1600 to $2500 beginning in 2020 in an effort to make the CME recognition program self-sufficient.
MSMA staff attended the state medical society meeting sponsored by the ACCME April 16–19, 2018 in Chicago, ACCME’s Annual Conference where attendees discussed issues and trends relevant to CME. Dr. Joan Shaffer and MSMA staff also attended the 2018 ACCME SMS Meeting in Chicago, IL, December 6–7, 2018. Additionally, staff participated in the ACCME’s monthly noon conference calls.
Membership
MSMA closed out the 2018 membership year with 2,381 active physician members, 835 medical student members, 112 resident/fellow members and 403 retired physician members. AMA reports a total of 2,198 active members from Missouri in 2018. On the state level, MSMA recruited 178 new members in 2018, 55 of whom took advantage of the mid-year, half-price offer.
Membership requires all-hands-on-deck. Staff has worked to implement new and different ways to boost membership, with an approach focused on awareness, engagement, recruitment, and retention. We are making every effort to put our leadership in contact with new members, prospects, and those who aren’t renewing their membership annually. A Councilor Engagement Plan was introduced in July; and we launched a new landing page with physician recruitment tips and tools at www.msma.org/ engage.
MSMA leaders have been signing customized letters in conjunction with each Council meeting; which MSMA staff then mails the letters to lapsed members and non-members within each Councilor’s district. We are excited to be coordinating small group sessions among leaders and non-members in the coming year as well.
In addition to the long-standing benefits and resources MSMA provides to our members, having the Show-Me Health Information Network (SHINE of Missouri) available to members at a discount proves to be a great asset in promoting MSMA membership.
Educational sessions are being offered during Convention specifically appealing to young physicians, residents, and medical students. Moneta Group, an MSMA preferred partner, also presented to residents at Truman Medical Center on debt management last summer.
The local component medical societies statewide have appreciated their visits from MSMA President Joe Corrado, MD, this past year. MSMA staff has coordinated with members from inactive local component medical societies who want to revitalize their societies.
MSMA’s social media is growing across the various platforms (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn). Video posts featuring members are performing well.
Tune in to our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/momedical, follow us on LinkedIn, check us out on Instagram, tweet with us @MOMedicalAssn, and watch MSMA on YouTube.
MSMA is proud to have such amazing leadership and members. Please read about them as we acknowledge their accomplishments in each issue of Missouri Medicine. Share MSMA and organized medicine’s successes with your non-member colleagues as often as you can. Thank you for your help in making MSMA the one membership every physician needs.
Missouri Physicians Health Foundation
This has been a busy year as indicated by the number of referrals and the numerous Missouri physicians that were assisted. The MPHP provides a variety of services. This includes consultation, intervention, referral for treatment, monitoring and advocacy. The consultive service is especially active. Hospital administrators, physicians, colleagues and family members call the Program Coordinator or Clinical Coordinator to make a referral, discuss a potential referral or brainstorm about the necessity of making a referral. Information is often requested about how to identify problems, what services are available and how to handle issues of impairment should they occur. Many hours are required to meet their needs. The MPHP provides a safe and knowledgeable venue for any question or concern about physician health.
Missouri State Medical Foundation
The Foundation is in good health and doing excellent work. It made over 3,000 medical school student loans since 1961 totaling almost $12 million. Although the Foundation is no longer making medical school student loans, the scholarship program has benefited hundreds of Missouri medical students. Your Missouri State Medical Foundation has spent $1,145,000 on scholarships and scholarship fund matching grants since 2001.
MSMA regularly publishes pictures in Progress Notes with medical students receiving MSMA Scholarships. The Foundation funds the $3,000 MSMA Scholarships awarded to ten Missouri medical students at each of the six medical schools. We are budgeting $180,000 this year for 60 MSMA Scholarships.
The MSMA Alliance is an important partner to the Foundation through its annual fund-raising activities.
MSMA Insurance Agency
Your MSMA Insurance Agency is an independent insurance agency that offers professional insurance consultation to all Missouri physicians. The Agency offers policies primarily for professional liability and health, but also covers workers compensation, business office coverage, disability, and life.
Agency staff has been instrumental in assisting numerous state medical associations in studying and forming an Association Health Plan which it is preparing to launch in 2019.
The board of the Insurance Agency reviews the budget and financial statements at each quarterly meeting. Agency financial statements are audited and consolidated into the MSMA financial statements.
The board is supportive of the Agency and encourages all MSMA members to contact the Agency for a competitive health insurance or professional liability insurance bid.
Committee on Public Affairs
The Public Affairs Commission was assigned Resolution #10 as directed by the MSMA House of Delegates: Collection of Breastfeeding Data at Well-Baby Visits in First Year of Life. 2018 House of Delegates amended and adopted: Resolved, that our MSMA explore the feasibility of a study on the collection of breastfeeding data with state Practice Based Research Networks and relevant specialty medical associations.
The Commission suggests increasing the breastfeeding rates in Missouri through distribution of specific data through its communications and encouraging the effective specialty groups to take on and share in this challenge statewide. The Commission also recommended that MSMA add the above resources to our website under Public Health for use by members and the general public.
Young Physician Section Report
The Young Physician Section (YPS) of MSMA will have a business meeting during the 2019 Annual Convention. The business meeting begins at 10:45 a.m. and is followed by a joint program, focusing on financial planning, for YPS, RFS and MSS members.
At the 2018 meeting, the section elected its officers for 2019. They were: Chair, Albert Hsu, MD; Vice-Chair, Kirsten Dunn, MD; Secretary, Fola Fasuyi, MD; and Treasurer, Ramona Behshad, MD. Dr. Dunn was named the YPS delegate. Dr. Behshad continues to serve as YPS councilor; Sarah Lovinger Florio, MD, serves as vice councilor. They were elected at the 2017 Annual Convention and their terms expire at the close of the 2019 Annual Convention.
During the 2018 Convention, YPS members heard a presentation on malpractice lawsuits from attorneys at Williams Venker and Sanders LLC, based in St. Louis.
Throughout 2018, Dr. Hsu and fellow YPS member Nita Kohli, MD, MPH, posted articles/updates on the MSMA website about attending AMA meetings and actions taken by the AMA-YPS.
The MSMA Resident and Fellow Section introduced a resolution creating a Women Physicians Section within the MSMA. Review the new section guidelines at www.msma.org/msma-constitution-bylaws.
Dr. Hsu was appointed to serve on the Editorial Board of Missouri Medicine, and YPS member Jessica Bauerle, MD, was appointed to the newly created position of Young Physician Contributing Editor to Missouri Medicine. Dr. Bauerle’s three-year term began Jan. 1, 2019.
International Medical Graduate Section
Last year has been quiet for the IMG section of the MSMA. We had the annual convention during which Louis DelCampo, MD, has come forward to serve as the Vice Councilor. He is an Anesthesiologist with Pain Management subspecialty practicing in Southwest Missouri region.
The Indian Medical Council has been dissolved locally and physicians of Indian origin now belong to AAPI (American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin) which is a national organization. Activities in St. Louis include meeting for social events a few times a year. The focus of this group is to facilitate J1 visa waivers to physicians so that they can stay longer to pursue employment that allows them to stay in the US. This group has been meeting with local politicians to help this process.
Physicians of Pakistani origin also now belong to a national association called APPNA (Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America) which has chapters in many states, however does not have one in Missouri since last year. No activity is reported locally due to that.
Edmond Cabbabe, MD, who had served as the past president of NAAMA (National Arab American Medical Association) has been awarded the highest award by St Louis Metropolitan Medical Society last year, the Robert E. Schlueter Leadership Award. He is the 20th recipient of this award, which is given to a person for long-standing contribution to medicine in the areas of leadership, scientific orientation, advocacy and community service. Dr. Cabbabe has served as the past president of SLMMS, MSMA, Missouri Association of Plastic Surgeons and currently serves as a delegate to the AMA since 2009, including being on the board of the AMA Foundation, a charitable branch.
Resident and Fellow Section
The MSMA Resident and Fellow Section (RFS) held a steady course over the 2018–2019 year. Primary objectives have been to continue to enhance RFS presence within the MSMA, improve RFS membership, develop sustainable strategies for ongoing membership recruitment, and grow networks with other MSMA sections - specifically the Young Physician Section (YPS) and the Medical Student Section (MSS). Through our efforts to pursue these goals, the RFS continues to show growth at both the state and national level.
At the 2018 MSMA Annual Convention, our governing council positions were restructured to better reflect duties unique to our section. Additionally, collaborative experiences with both the YPS and MSS were launched in an effort to bridge the membership transition through each phase of physician development. Again at this year’s Annual Convention, our three sections will join in shared programming and networking opportunities. At the state capitol, multiple RFS members have volunteered as Physician of the Day and many participated in MSMA’s 2019 White Coat Rally. Regarding our membership efforts, our section continues to work with the MSMA Membership Committee on ways to boost membership among post-graduate trainees. As part of this effort, the RFS continues to grow its Resident Ambassador Program which was launched in early 2018. We now have multiple ambassadors within each metro area. Each ambassador serves as a local liaison of the MSMA mission to her or his respective training program and institution.
At the national level, MSMA-RFS continued to have strong representation at AMA Annual and Interim meetings. Currently, we have representation within multiple standing committees of the AMA including the Committee on Membership and the Committee on Public Health. As a state section, we continue to have regular representation at AMA-RFS meetings as we bring the voices of Missouri residents and fellows to the national stage.
Medical Student Section
A.T. Still University – KCOM
The A.T. Still University-Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine (KCOM) AMA/MSMA-MSS Chapter held two successful recruitment efforts this year. We held our annual recruitment event at the Taste of Kirksville, where students learn about and join student organizations while local food vendors bring samples from their various restaurants. During our second recruitment event, we brought in plastic surgeon Dr. Schuyler Metlis from Hannibal Regional Medical Group who showed students how to work together as DOs and MDs in organized medicine.
We were very excited to host AMA Immediate Past President David Barbe, MD, at a campus- wide event in spring 2018. He discussed the importance of AMA, advantages of becoming members as medical students, the impact of the Medical Student Section on HOD Policy, and practicing in rural medicine.
Our main service projects each year are bi-annual blood drives with the Red Cross. We are happy to announce we maintained our Premier Blood Partner status with the Red Cross this year. Additionally, we hosted a historic blood drive in December 2018. Our blood drive received an exceptional 75 total units of blood from students, faculty, staff, and community members. This was the highest amount in our MSS chapter’s history with the Red Cross, and the second-highest total at our institution. Seventy-six total units is the record on campus, so we were very close. Our spring blood drive is just around the corner and the Red Cross is increasing our appointment allotments to account for our continued success.
Last year, our previous MSS President, Lauren Drake, discussed us working on planning an Opioid/Naloxone Workshop. As of this update, we are holding a 2-hour Opioid Overdose and Training Workshop with the MO-HOPE organization from St. Louis. We have combined our efforts and resources with the SOMA and MAOPS organizations on campus to hold as large of an event as possible for our first- and second-year members and non-members. We will continue to be a state and national voice and look forward to another year with the incoming class.
Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences
The Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences (KCU) MSMA-AMA Chapter started this academic year by continuing the highly-successful “How To Survive Medical School” event for the incoming Class of 2022, which included tips on how to survive medical school and a short introduction to MSMA/AMA. We followed this up with a second recruitment event with MSMA President Elect James DiRenna, DO, who spoke about his involvement within the MSMA. Between these two recruitment events, we brought our first- and second-year member total to 70+.
Throughout the year, the executive board planned a variety of events. Schoen Kruse, PhD, a professor at KCU, hosted a talk about his own wellness journey and gave advice on how medical students should focus on themselves. Additionally, we hosted a Picmonic presentation where students could learn more about this learning service and discount codes for cheaper access. After AMA’s Interim meeting, my fellow delegate and I gave a presentation explaining how policy is written, revised, and voted upon. Following that, we hosted a Heart Health Day event for Heart Health month where we organized an exercise class, led by fellow students, with another club on campus and provided healthy snacks to students and faculty. However, the most important event all year was the Opioid Overdose Informational Session and Training. We hosted Kamile Johnson, PharmD, and Neann Wedgeworth from the local KC Care Clinic, who presented facts about the opioid crisis and how to use Narcan, and the talk was given to almost 100 faculty and students.
The chapter at KCU is also very intent on helping the community around us. We have volunteered at Hope Lodge, Kansas City Community Kitchen, and the Ronald McDonald House. We try to schedule at least one event a month so we can provide opportunities for about 20 members a month to give back. Coming up, we are looking forward to transitioning the class of 2022 into leadership roles, coordinating upcoming speakers, and attending MSMA’s state convention as well as Annual AMA in June. The chapter at KCU is excited to keep working in the coming year.
Saint Louis University
The Saint Louis University Chapter welcomed the Class of 2022 during orientation week with a chapter lunch presentation on AMA, MSMA and SLMMS. At that time, MSMA Past President Ravi Johar, MD, spoke to us about the role of organized medicine in health policy and his experiences with MSMA. We again introduced students to MSMA with tables at the Student Interest Group Fair during the first few weeks of school.
This year our chapter continued its strong commitment to serve the St. Louis community. Chapter leaders Amin Karadaghy MS2 and Amy Tian MS2 coordinated student involvement in the Health Protection and Education Services Clinic at the University City Public Library, providing free screenings to 50 patients on the third Saturday of each month. The new addition of a bone mineral density screening machine has made a large impact on the identification of osteoporosis in the St. Louis community.
Beyond SLU, our chapter participated in the larger SLMMS, MSMA and AMA organizations. George Kung MS2 worked to more closely integrate SLMMS with the AMA/MSMA presence on campus. Monica Ou MS1 was recently appointed as the SLMMS Student Board Member for 2019. Three of our members attended the 2018 MSMA Annual Convention in St. Louis. Nationally, our chapter sent three members to AMA Annual in June in Chicago.
We are dedicated to changing healthcare policy for the better. Shannon Tai MS3 worked with the MSMA-MSS board to submit a resolution through SLMMS addressing the needs of foster children in the healthcare system. Dr. Johar and Edmond Cabbabe, MD, were kind enough to invite interested students to the SLMMS resolution meeting to discuss considered resolutions and develop ideas for potential resolutions to be written. We hope to produce resolutions and further involve students in the writing process in the future.
Emergency medicine physician Tina Chen, MD, presented on the acute management of opioid patients and reflected upon her experience with the crisis firsthand at SLU. The 2018 SLMMS President Chris Swingle, DO, spoke to SLU students about the importance of SLMMS and participation in organized medicine on a local level, as well as state and national levels. We are grateful for last year’s success and hopeful of our chapter going forward.
University of Missouri - Columbia
The MSMA-MSS at University of Missouri-Columbia started off the year strong with a table at the orientation activities fair for M1s and a luncheon meeting to provide information on the benefits of organized medicine. We recruited 49 new M1s to join and get excited about opportunities within the MSMA and AMA.
In August, we hosted our first “Pints and Policy” event of the year, where students discussed the debate around scope of practice legislation for mid-level providers. In September, Heidi Geisbuhler, Director of Legislative Affairs for MSMA, came to speak to us about the legislative process, MSMA lobbying, and how students can get involved.
In October, we partnered with the Boone County Medical Society (BCMS) to co-host a Mizzou Residency Directors Forum at The Roof in Columbia, MO for all third-year medical students. We also had our annual Halloween party fundraiser, where we raised $1,079 for MedZou, the free student-run community clinic at Mizzou.
We were awarded a Section Involvement Grant from the AMA, which helped fund a MedZou event, Project Homeless Connect, helping connect the homeless population of Columbia with health resources around the city.
During our Advocacy Week in November, Mizzou focused on raising awareness about the national opioid epidemic. We hosted a documentary screening of the film Heroin followed by a discussion, which was well-attended and very successful.
In January, we held a Resolution Writing Workshop where Albert Hsu, MD, and Jared Lammert, MD, discussed the process of writing a resolution, and students spent time brainstorming and beginning to write resolutions for the upcoming MSMA meeting in April.
As in the past, Mizzou has continued to have strong attendance at national conferences and representation in state leadership. In November, at the AMA Interim Meeting, Calli Morris and Nikki Kagan represented Mizzou at the Medical Student Section Meeting, with Nikki Kagan also serving on the Region 2 Board. Six additional students also attended the Interim meeting. Nikki Kagan also attended the Region 2 conference held in Chicago. For the State MSS, Scott Berndt is currently serving as Vice-Councilor and Calli Morris is serving as Chair.
University of Missouri – Kansas City
This has been an excellent year for the UMKC chapter of the MSMA-MSS. We started with great recruiting in August for our Year 1 and 2 students in our 6-year med program. Afterwards we had great questions and interest. We were able to register a lot of people into our chapter, of which we are very proud!
We usually have one meeting a month, where we talk about policy and what we can do to improve advocacy and legislation in the medical community. We had a fun national advocacy week, and Nick Yeisley helped arrange a successful guest lecture from Betty Drees, MD; an opioid training event; and a visit to our local legislative offices. We also led a Med-Out-The-Vote campaign for the midterm elections in our area.
We had another recruitment event for the Year 3-Year 6 students in the medical school and we look forward to continuing our UMKC events with a Differential Diagnosis event and another community service event that we are still planning.
Outside of UMKC, our chapter members continue to be involved on the regional and national Level. Manna Varghese is a part of the governing council of the AMA and has been going to regional meetings across the country. Nick Yeisley is a member of the AMA-MSS Minority Issues Committee. Akash Jani, our president, serves on the regional board. Priya Jain, Connor King, and Andrew Williams are all involved in Region 2 subcommittees. We have had good UMKC representation at national conferences (Interim, MARC, and Annual) in recent years, and we look forward to continuing that in the coming year. We are extremely grateful to the MSMA for all of their assistance in helping us travel to these conferences, which are often far (e.g. Hawaii, Washington, D.C.), and look forward to another wonderful year.
The MSMA Medical Student Section was well represented by six schools of medicine from around the state: A.T. Still University Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, Kansas City University, Saint Louis University, University of Missouri -Columbia, University of Missouri - Kansas City, and Washington University.
Washington University
The Washington University chapter continued our success in training physician-advocates and healthcare leaders. Last spring, we hosted the president of the AMA, David Barbe, MD. He gave a well-attended talk, was given a tour of the medical campus, and met with administrators and student-leaders. We began the school year with a very successful recruiting event during the First-Year activities fair. Our first meeting featured an introduction to the AMA, MSMA, and SLMMS. Students were given the opportunity to learn more about organized medicine and SLMMS from SLMMS President Christopher Swingle, DO, and Executive Vice President Dave Nowak.
We started a new program this year called Pints & Policy. During each session, medical students meet with a policy leader to discuss current legislation and ways students can get involved early in their career with advocacy. Leaders of the sessions have included Ed Weisbart, MD; Ilana Rosman, MD; and Ravi Johar, MD. The sessions have been well-received, and we hope to expand them in the future.
We launched a new elective class this year, which introduced first-year students to the intersection of policy and medicine. The 16 students enrolled in the course received lectures from leading experts in policy, including our faculty advisory Graham Colditz, MD. Other speakers included David Barbe, MD; Sam Page, MD; Samer Cabbabe, MD; Lynn Cornelius, MD; Colleen McNicholas, DO; William Peck, MD; Representative Stacey Newman; Tim McBride, PhD; and Mr. Jeff Howell. Each student also participated in a policy drafting session and presented their proposed policy at the end of the course. Student feedback from the course was excellent. We anticipate more student engagement with health policy in the future.
We have continued to focus on giving future physicians the skills to advocate for their patients. Our advocacy chairs organized a letter-writing day in the Spring. We also sent 10 students to the MSMA Lobby Day in Jefferson City and will attend the 2019 White Coat Rally. We led a large voter registration drive this fall and hosted a “Meet Your Ballot” event to familiarize students with issues and candidates. We are hosting an Advocacy Workshop this spring to introduce students to the Missouri legislature and ways to engage in policy. We will send students to the annual AMA Medical Student Advocacy and Regional Conference in Washington D.C., as well.
Individual student leaders are continuing their involvement. WUSM sent seven students to the AMA Annual meeting and three students to the AMA Interim Meeting. At Interim, two students, Jane Hayes and Samantha Lund, authored resolutions that were well received and passed through the Medical Student Session. Several WUSM members continue to serve on AMA committees, Region 2 Leadership, the MSMA-MSS Council, and the SLMMS Council. As we transition our leadership roles to the next class of medical students, we are excited to continue working to improve healthcare on a local, state, and national basis in 2019.