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Resident Physician Mentoring Program: A Program Long Overdue

Resident Physician Mentoring Program: A Program Long Overdue How many of us lament what is happening to organized medicine and our practices, declining reimbursement, the state of medicine in general, and the apparent apathy and antipathy of many of our younger colleagues, both in training and in practice, to all that is going on around us. How do we encourage and educate young physicians to become involved with organized medicine and our lobbying efforts at the state and federal level? Having been politically active since 1984 in the state of Pennsylvania to combat multiple successive optometric therapeutic drug bills and active at the federal level as a congressional advocate, I can state unequivocally that it is not only necessary but also interesting, fun, and exciting. There is nothing so thrilling as walking the halls of Congress meeting with congressmen and senators and advocating for ophthalmology. Younger ophthalmologists, those who will be in practice for 20 to 30 more years, are the ones who will be most impacted by current reimbursement levels, future reimbursement decisions, and ongoing legislation. The feelings of powerlessness, anxiety, and anger are palpable in our profession and are often promulgated by the frustrations of older ophthalmologists who “knew the golden years.” These negative attitudes are destructive at worst and counterproductive at best, and they should be avoided at all costs because they do influence our younger colleagues. Kudos to Dr Tsai et al.1 I think similar mentoring programs should be an integral part of every residency teaching program in ophthalmology in America. There is a wealth of young, intelligent talent out there that only needs to be mentored and shown the direction as to how to channel energies productively in these areas. It is our responsibility to bring our young colleagues into the fold and point them in the right direction. So many of us learned by the seat of our pants, making mistakes along the way in areas such as coding, practice management, and lobbying activities. Mentoring programs such as these cannot help but to improve declining enrollment in state and national medical societies and make for stronger business practices that can only strengthen the profession now and in the future, increasing the enjoyment of practice and reducing the powerlessness and angst that seem to be pervasive in many areas in our profession. Hopefully, the American Academy of Ophthalmology and other ophthalmic organizations (Association of Ophthalmic University Professors, American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, etc) will publicize this mentoring program and encourage and support similar programs in other academic institutions and locales. We will benefit from the inevitable results of their efforts. Correspondence: Dr Berkowitz, Department of Ophthalmology, Aiken Medical Bldg, Suite 520, 532 S Aiken Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15232 (peter.berkowitz@adelphia.net). Financial Disclosure: None reported. References 1. Tsai JCLee PPChasteen STaylor RJBrennan MWSchmidt GE Resident physician mentoring program in ophthalmology: the Tennessee experience. Arch Ophthalmol 2006;124264- 267PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Archives of Ophthalmology American Medical Association

Resident Physician Mentoring Program: A Program Long Overdue

Archives of Ophthalmology , Volume 124 (12) – Dec 1, 2006

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References (1)

Publisher
American Medical Association
Copyright
Copyright © 2006 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.
ISSN
0003-9950
eISSN
1538-3687
DOI
10.1001/archopht.124.12.1800
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

How many of us lament what is happening to organized medicine and our practices, declining reimbursement, the state of medicine in general, and the apparent apathy and antipathy of many of our younger colleagues, both in training and in practice, to all that is going on around us. How do we encourage and educate young physicians to become involved with organized medicine and our lobbying efforts at the state and federal level? Having been politically active since 1984 in the state of Pennsylvania to combat multiple successive optometric therapeutic drug bills and active at the federal level as a congressional advocate, I can state unequivocally that it is not only necessary but also interesting, fun, and exciting. There is nothing so thrilling as walking the halls of Congress meeting with congressmen and senators and advocating for ophthalmology. Younger ophthalmologists, those who will be in practice for 20 to 30 more years, are the ones who will be most impacted by current reimbursement levels, future reimbursement decisions, and ongoing legislation. The feelings of powerlessness, anxiety, and anger are palpable in our profession and are often promulgated by the frustrations of older ophthalmologists who “knew the golden years.” These negative attitudes are destructive at worst and counterproductive at best, and they should be avoided at all costs because they do influence our younger colleagues. Kudos to Dr Tsai et al.1 I think similar mentoring programs should be an integral part of every residency teaching program in ophthalmology in America. There is a wealth of young, intelligent talent out there that only needs to be mentored and shown the direction as to how to channel energies productively in these areas. It is our responsibility to bring our young colleagues into the fold and point them in the right direction. So many of us learned by the seat of our pants, making mistakes along the way in areas such as coding, practice management, and lobbying activities. Mentoring programs such as these cannot help but to improve declining enrollment in state and national medical societies and make for stronger business practices that can only strengthen the profession now and in the future, increasing the enjoyment of practice and reducing the powerlessness and angst that seem to be pervasive in many areas in our profession. Hopefully, the American Academy of Ophthalmology and other ophthalmic organizations (Association of Ophthalmic University Professors, American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, etc) will publicize this mentoring program and encourage and support similar programs in other academic institutions and locales. We will benefit from the inevitable results of their efforts. Correspondence: Dr Berkowitz, Department of Ophthalmology, Aiken Medical Bldg, Suite 520, 532 S Aiken Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15232 (peter.berkowitz@adelphia.net). Financial Disclosure: None reported. References 1. Tsai JCLee PPChasteen STaylor RJBrennan MWSchmidt GE Resident physician mentoring program in ophthalmology: the Tennessee experience. Arch Ophthalmol 2006;124264- 267PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref

Journal

Archives of OphthalmologyAmerican Medical Association

Published: Dec 1, 2006

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