Pub. 2 2018 Issue 1

Nicole Clark, MD The Best Kind of Medicine F amily medicine is the best kind of medicine! That has been my belief since I entered medical school at the University of Vermont. Like many of you, I grew up with a family medicine doctor who did it all – OB, hos- pital, office, home visits – so this is what I wanted to do in my career. I was fortunate enough to attend a school that valued medical students who chose to pursue this specialty. Twenty or so years later, I still believe that we have the best specialty but there are days that I wonder if it will survive. For one thing, the alphabet soup is overwhelming with ac- ronyms such as ACO, APMs, CMS, EMR, MARCA, MIPS, MOC, and WAC. In addition, the administrative burden seems to grow every day when it comes to getting prior authorizations, checking the right box in the EMR, and ordering the correct medicine from the 40 different formularies. It can be easy to lose sight of why we practice medicine. For most of us, we chose family medicine because we are car- ing people who want to provide the best care for our patients, to help our patients achieve their optimal health and for them to have the highest quality of life possible. When our patients complete personal goals such as getting their diabetes under control or finally quitting smoking, we get to share in their triumphs. When they face serious medical problems, we are there to support them and help guide them through. We are the “cradle to the grave” doctors. What an amazing specialty! With all the challenges we face in practice today, many of us sometimes feel alone and overwhelmed. That is where our academy can help. On the local front, the academy is active within the state legislature working to promote those options that will allow us to practice without being burdened by un- necessary and ridiculous regulations. We continue to work on making sure our patients can have access to healthcare and encourage them to make healthy life choices. Our execu- tive director and lobbyist, Jennifer Dailey-Provost, has been at the capitol working to promote these ideas. She is our voice when we can’t be there. For the third year in a row, the UAFP provided a very success- ful “CME-n-Ski” in Park City. It continues to grow in attend- ance both locally and nationally. Topics this year ranged from wound-care management to diagnosing sleep disorders in primary care, based on feedback from the previous year’s attendees. In 2019, we hope to continue to grow our CME to include an all-day Saturday schedule for those of us who want to attend but don’t ski! Details will follow later this year. On the national level, our delegates (Drs. Sarah Woolsey, Kirsten Stoesser, Chad Spain and myself) represent Utah’s interest in the AAFP through the Congress of Delegates. The academy leadership has heard us. As a result, they are pur- suing ways to decrease the burden from prior authorization paper work and improve access to care. They are also work- ing with the ABFM to improve the maintenance of certifica- tion process. To help with the ever-growing problem of physician burnout, the first “Physician Health and Wellbeing Conference” was held this April in Florida after hearing from YOU. Reports from colleagues who attended told us it was a great success and well worth the time. Next year it will be held in Phoenix, AZ. I encourage everyone to consider attending. The UAFP is here for you. The board members (listed on sep- arate pages) and I are here for you. I want to hear what you need in order to practice high-quality, low-burden medicine that helps your patients. We can do our job best when we know what is important to the membership. I encourage you to reach out to myself; our Executive Director, Jennifer Dai- ley-Provost; our Program Director, Barbara Bassett; or any of the board members for your questions or concerns. Join a committee! Run for the board! Be involved! And remember … family medicine is the best kind of medicine.  PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE 7 |