President’s Message
A New Vision for TCMS ZEKE J. McKINNEY, MD, MHI, MPH
The recent local murder of Amir Locke is an unfortunate reminder of how much work is still yet to be done to ensure the health and safety of our community. The systemic and environmental health hazards to those without the power, privilege, or agency to reduce those hazards are significant contributors to the health of our communities and our patients. The literature continues to demonstrate that social determinants of health (SDOH), including access to health care and/ or health insurance; stable employment, nutrition, housing, and the lived environment; as well as the community context in which one lives, as a whole impact health outcomes as much as 50-90%. Perhaps unsurprisingly, systemic racism itself is a social determinant, as is colorism (a person’s skin tone). This effect is reflected in Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) patients consistently having comparatively worse health outcomes in a variety of contexts: maternal-infant mortality, treatment of pain, assignment of disability, rates/management of chronic disease, and all-cause mortality. What does that mean for us as physicians? Considering that these SDOH are impacting our patients more than our ability to provide clinical care, it is at least in our own interest to try to do something about them. However, it is also in alignment with the biomedical ethical principle of justice. Classically, we hear about this principle in terms of ensuring we are provisioning care equitably for patients in the same clinical context. This breadth of consideration is not enough, and we have a responsibility to our communities to use our social capital, education, and financial resources as physicians to fight for justice for our patients. Most importantly, we must do this as partners with the community. That is where TCMS comes in. The past year involved significant transition and organizational energy for TCMS as we amicably separated from the Minnesota Medical Association. This process is essentially complete and we are now focused on how to move forward with continuing to support our existing amazing efforts, and to grow our ability to initiate new projects. Our aim is to continue to facilitate community-oriented partnerships with physicians in the areas of education, advocacy, and programming. Although we are likely to change our organization’s name to reflect a footprint beyond the Twin Cities alone, the TCMS Board recently approved the following statements to reiterate who we are: Elevator Pitch: Why should I join TCMS? TCMS is the place where physicians that want to do something for their community can be plugged into things to do. Gap Analysis: What need is TCMS filling? People and organizations are looking for doctors all the time to help them with projects. Many doctors feel like they cannot always fulfill their passion for helping others with their clinical work. TCMS bridges that gap by giving physicians the space to try to fix what is broken about health care and medicine through the lens of asking the community what they need and how they want it. Mission: Twin Cities Medical Society is dedicated to creating a healthy, equitable, and thriving state by engaging physicians and medical students in community-driven public health initiatives. Vision: To be the organization where individuals or communities can turn for physician-led expertise and engagement, and where physicians can pour their passion for doing good well beyond what they may be able to do within their everyday work. With all of this in mind, we will continue to rely on you to help us best serve our communities by informing us of where we can be most effective and by continuing to graciously give your time to our work. We sincerely look forward to traversing this year together despite the local and global challenges facing all of us. Thank you! 4
Spring 2022
MetroDoctors
The Journal of the Twin Cities Medical Society
