Message from MSV president: Just say yes
December 2011
Dear colleagues,
The start of a General Assembly session is a great time to think about what you can do to help change the face of medicine in Virginia. It is the time to start planning ahead to get out there for events like MSV’s White Coats on Call Days, where you can reach out to your legislators face-to-face. Think about where we would all be if others had not taken the time to stand up for our profession before us. It’s our time now to make history and to continue fighting the good fight.
In case you don’t know my background, I have been on the MSV board of directors since 1995. Back then, it was not called the board of directors, it was the council and I was a vice councilor. We had a nice home (it literally looked like a remodeled home) on Dover Road in Richmond. The MSV Insurance Agency did not exist. The Foundation did not exist. The practice services team did not exist. We had a different logo and our brand and name were not as well known.
My first exposure to MSV was Dr. Raymond Brown’s car, parked almost every day in the doctors’ parking lot at my hospital. Dr. Brown was the last president of MSV from Gloucester and his car license plate said MSV76. It took me a year of practice in Virginia to realize that although VCU used to be called Medical College of Virginia (MCV), it was never called the Medical SCHOOL of Virginia (MSV), that Dr. Brown graduated well before 1976 and that MSV stood for this great organization.
We have grown considerably since then. Now, we are better known for our work for both physicians and patients. MSV may be 191 years old, but during the past fifteen years, it has gone through a rapid transformation. There has been a lot of behind the scenes work on strategic planning and organizational development by your leadership, staff and all of the related entities. We are poised for a great future—not as an aligned organization of many parts, but as a UNITED
Medical Society of Virginia.
About a year ago, when I was first elected as president-elect, I was stopped by one of my colleagues at the gym, Dr. Peter Zullo. He asked me what I was going to change when I became president. I thought I had a YEAR, riding on Cyn’s [Cynthia Romero, M.D., FAAFP] coat tails, to think about those sorts of questions. I did tell him that I hoped to help MSV empower physicians with the information we need for business decisions and advocacy. For example, a statewide, specialty-specific compensation survey could help our employed as well as our private practice members know whether they are being treated fairly. In addition, instead of physicians being “rated” by insurance companies, I hope that we could begin publically rating them on their performance in areas like reimbursement, medication formulary and pre-authorization.
Now that I have had a year to think about it, I wish I had added one more thing. I should have said, “Peter, what are YOU going to do to change medicine in Virginia?”
MSV is a member-driven organization. Change happens only though the ideas and dedication of its members.
There are lots of ways to become dedicated and lots of ways to demonstrate that dedication. For example, I had no intention of ever becoming MSV president when I attended my first house of delegates meeting almost two decades ago. I just came to play golf with my good friend, Wade Peery. He was president of his local medical society in Galax and I was president of mine in Gloucester. At that meeting, in addition to renewing old friendships, I began to realize the
importance and effectiveness of the legislative efforts of MSV.
When I was asked to be a delegate the next year, I said yes.
The following year, I was at a District 1 caucus in September. Our district is not quite as politically active as some. Norman Edwards, M.D. and Harold Williams, M.D. (the last president from District 1 in 1983) ran that meeting. Neither of them is still with us. They were looking for a volunteer to run for vice councilor. There were just a few people in the room and I knew that my society needed me. I just said yes.
After that came lots of opportunities to serve: the membership committee, the budget committee, chair of the scope of practice committee, chair of a reference committee. I just said yes to each of them.
Secretary Hazel [William A. Hazel Jr., M.D.], then Speaker Hazel, asked me to run for vice speaker. I never thought I had the skills to do that job. At that time, I said . . . no.
I learned two things then:
1. You never tell Bill Hazel no.
2. Nancy Reagan’s slogan, “Just say no”, might be a way to get children to avoid peer pressure and drug use, but it doesn’t apply to MSV. Your society needs you to respond to peer pressure and “Just say yes.”
So the next time I was asked to run for what turned out to be the best job in the society, vice speaker, I just said yes. I said yes to speaker, another great job. I’ll let you know how this president thing turns out.
So when your society asks you to be a delegate again next year in Williamsburg: Just say yes.
If you are needed on a reference committee or an MSV task force: Just say yes.
When you are asked to attend White Coats on Call or contact your legislator: Just say yes.
When you are asked by membership to contact a physician who should be a member of MSV: Just say yes.
When you are contacted by the MSV Insurance Agency to look at malpractice insurance or a change in health insurance: Just say yes.
When you are asked to donate to the MSVPAC or the Foundation, or when you are asked to join the Alliance: Just say yes.
I look forward to serving the entire society and its members who are united in the desire to make Virginia the best place to practice medicine and receive care.
Hugh Bryan III, M.D.
MSV President