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Vol. 66, No. 1 2015
Northeast Florida Medicine
From the Executive Vice President’s Desk
As always, the 162ndDuval CountyMedical Society Annual
Meeting was a wonderful time of reflection and celebration.
As Dr. Mobeen Rathore passed the mantle of the Presidency
to Dr. Raed Assar, it was an opportunity to look to the future
as well as the past.
One of the projects
I am particularly ex-
cited about in 2015 is
the Mentorship Task
Force. This group was
assembled by Dr. Assar
to help to strengthen
the Medical Society by
helping to educate and
empower physicians
who are the current
and future leaders of
the Society. (To learn
more, read Dr. Assar’s
editorial entitled “Up-
date on the Mentoring
Initiative” on page 5)
The planning stages are already underway, but as the dis-
cussions are occurring, I find it refreshing to observe the true
value of organized medicine comes to the forefront.
The DCMS was founded in 1853 by Jacksonville doctors
looking to quell an epidemic and understanding the need to
work together to improve the public health and their ability
to practice medicine. Not much has changed in the subse-
quent 16 decades.
Today the public health issues are not yellow fever and
small pox. Yes, epidemiology is still important with Ebola
and Chikungunya both making headlines in 2014. However,
today’s Medical Society is tackling political and societal issues
such as medical marijuana, scope of practice expansion, tort
reform andMaintenance of Certification changes.These issues
are critical to today’s physician.
The Medical Society is often called the “Voice of Organized
Medicine.” The Society has the ability to convey the will of
its members to the Florida Legislature, as well as to other
Houses of Medicine like the Florida Medical Association and
the American Medical Association.
That “Voice” is embodied by engaged and enthusiastic
local physicians who dedicate their time to organized med-
icine with the promise of improving the profession and
helping physicians care for the health of our community and
all communities.
Dr. Yank Coble served as the President of the Duval County
Medical Society before being asked to serve as the President
of the Florida Medical Association, the American Medical
Association, and the World Medical Association.
Dr. Alan Harmon is currently the Immediate Past-Presi-
dent of the Florida Medical Association. He is one of many
DCMS Past-Presidents who went on to serve at the Florida
Medical Association.
The Task Force understands that the ability of the Medical
Society to maintain this level of statewide, national and global
influence requires a commitment to develop and nurture the
physicians in Duval County to become leaders in organized
medicine. It starts with service to the County Medical Society,
but can prepare physicians to participate in everything from
state Medical Associations to National Specialty Societies.
As we embark on this journey, we know that it will be a long
one. Certainly it takes many years and a significant amount
of sweat equity to reach some of these lofty peaks. However,
the process of systematically working to help local physicians
maximize their leadership potential will only improve the
impact of the DCMS on those issues that continue to face
local physicians after more than 162 years.
v
Bryan Campbell
DCMS Executive Vice President
The Case for Organized Medicine
