January 2024

One of Our Proud Newsletter Sponsors:

Welcome to 2024: from Our New President, Carol Stamm, MD

The Denver Medical Society Core Values:

• Supporting Physician Wellbeing 
• Offering Education & Professional Development Opportunities
• Providing Legislative Advocacy
• Representing Diverse Member Voices 
• Advancing Public Health Initiatives

Happy New Year! On behalf of the Denver Medical Society Board of Directors, I want to share some of our exciting plans for 2024 plans. We will share our plans in each monthly bulletin, so please stay engaged. We begin the year cognizant of the personal and professional sacrifices that the pandemic required of all of us. As we adapt to living and practicing medicine with continuing changes, it is time to re-evaluate the habits we adopted, reflect on how our experiences changed us, reassess our priorities, and search for joy in medicine again. 

Calling all “Next Chapter” docs: Come Have Coffee on Us. “Retired” isn’t a word that fits most physicians, so join us to discuss what you’re doing in your next adventure outside of your practice. Come have coffee on us, Tuesday, January 30^th, 2024 at 10:30 am, at Junction Food + Drink in Denver near I-25 and Colo. Blvd. “Next Chapter” physician Naomi Fieman, MD, will be there to meet everyone, along with DMS Executive Director, Ginny Castleberry. We want your ideas as we launch our DMS Next Chapter Physicians Group. Events, activities, advocacy, education, investment, entrepreneurship, reinvention? They are all up for discussion and every doc is welcome, no matter your next chapter status. Please share the date with colleagues and RSVP so we have a headcount to info@denvermedsociety.org.

EARLY CAREER PHYSICIANS - WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU

Physicians in their first years of practice bring invaluable skills, innovation, and energy to medicine.

We want to highlight your experiences, your ideas, your concerns, and the challenges you face. Reach out to Ginny Castleberry, DMS Executive Director (vcastleberry@denvermedsociety.org) if you are interested or want to recommend a physician we should contact. Thank you!

Speaking of Early Career Physicians ...

Three Questions for Alex Leung, MD:

• If you hadn’t have become a vascular surgeon, what would you be doing? I would work in biomedical engineering as my passion is to design devices to improve people's lives.
• What magical fix to the house of medicine would make the most difference? Patient care and medical necessity needs to be determined by physicians or physician committees as insurance companies are progressively limiting appropriate care, which leads to poor outcomes and inadvertently drives up healthcare costs.
• What destination is next on your bucket list? The next destination on my bucket list is Australia to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge and snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef.

Dr Alex Leung, MD, is a Vascular Surgeon with Vascular Institute of the Rockies. He grew up in Denver and is a proud member of the DMS Board. 

Alex Leung, MD

From Our Friends at:

Apply for the CO APCD Scholarship Today

Contact us by January 31st to see if you qualify for FY24 funding

CO APCD Scholarship Funding is available to help you access data, analyze health care costs, utilization, quality and more.

The funding subsidizes 25% to 80% of data costs for eligible organizations including researchers, state agencies and non-profits.

Contact us by January 31st to inquire about applying for funding for this fiscal year, which ends June 30th.  

LAUNCHING THE DMS BULLETIN

MULTIMEDIA COLUMN

Read anything interesting or thought provoking recently? Seen a good movie? Heard an excellent podcast? Want to share your thoughts with your colleagues? Please reach out if you’d like to submit a book/film/podcast review to this newsletter.

This month's review: Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention – and How to Think Deeply Again by Johann Hari

Reviewed by Elizabeth Lowdermilk, MD:

Well, I wrote the title – then stopped to order something on Amazon. Drafted a first sentence – then stopped to check if someone had returned an email. Thought for a moment about the points I wanted to highlight – then glanced at my phone to see if anyone had texted. 

If this resonates with you, you are not alone. You are part of a global crisis that is changing how we think and threatening our ability to think deeply. 

What is behind this crisis? Is it social media? EMRs? Sleep? Diet?  

Recognizing that indeed we are in the midst of a global crisis, these are the questions that Johann Hari set out to answer. 

DMS Legislative Event/Capitol Visit Coming Soon in 2024 ... Stay Tuned!