HJNO Mar/Apr 2019

48 MAR / APR 2019 I  Healthcare Journal of NEW ORLEANS column medical society Imploring Physicians of Organized Medicine: Engage the Next Generation Numerous forces are naturally and powerfully pushing medical students to focus only on academic performance rather than holistic development. I would argue that, directly or indirectly, the ac- cretion of debt burdens, the accentuation of board scores in determining residency placements, and the serpentine effects of electronic health records have all added to the obstacles that must be overcome to increase medical student involvement in organized medicine. My fear is that these pressures have created a system that most often produces dimensionally limited physicians who primarily excel at board exams, rather than well-rounded, human- istic physicians who recognize the honor and the responsibility of joining a learned profession. It is in defiance of these forces that I ask physicians of today to engage the physi- cians of tomorrow in organized medicine by supporting the already-existent efforts of the Orleans Parish Medical Society (OPMS) and Jefferson Parish Medical So- ciety (JPMS), as well as creating new op- portunities for medical students to learn about and take part in advocacy. OPMS and JPMS have been working together to increase medical student involvement, inviting medical students to presentations given by the American Medical Associa- tion President, Dr. Barbara McAneny, and Louisiana Secretary of Health Dr. Rebekah Gee. OPMS has added two medical stu- dent members to its board of directors, which not only provides the students with a wonderful experiential learning oppor- tunity, but also the society with a more di- rect avenue of communication with med- ical students. I am fortunate to have discovered organized medicine early in my medical school career, though I find myself discouraged at the overall lack of medical student participation in professional societies and advocacy efforts. In July of 2018, about 2 percent of medical students training at New Orleans-based institutions were members of parish medical societies. The etiology of this worrisome paucity of involvement is likely multifactorial, inclusive of the constantly evolving systems of medical education and its associated high- stress, high-impact examination processes.