Executive Memo: Pursuing Physician Wellness in All Things

Conrad Amenta, SFMMS Executive Director

PURSUING PHYSICIAN WELLNESS IN ALL THINGS

The profession of medicine has faced daunting challenges

during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the San Francisco Marin Medical Society, we have heard from primary care physicians navigating complex public health guidance, personal protective equipment shortages, and vaccine shortages. From critical care physicians providing exceptional care in ICUs as surges constrain hospital resources; to independent physician practices who shifted overnight to provide the bulk of their care via telemedicine; in every care setting—and across medical specialties—physicians have put their own health and wellness on the back burner to care for their communities.

Across every segment of our membership, we have heard you loud and clear: the San Francisco Marin Medical Society needs to help the profession to come together to heal.

In collaboration with the California Medical Association and fellow county medical societies, SFMMS will continue to provide timely interventions to those in crisis. But there is another project underway, one that broadly defines and guides SFMMS

"We think about how to position the profession to thrive post-COVID-19. SFMMS is applying physician wellness as a ‘lens’ through which we view everything we do."

as we think about how to position the profession to thrive post-COVID-19. SFMMS is applying physician wellness as a ‘lens’ through which we view everything we do.

When we convene and connect our members, bringing them together to build authentic relationships, it is because we know that nobody understands the experience of a physician like another physician.

When we develop advocacy and media training, helping physicians to tell their story to inform the decisions of policymakers, it is because we want our physicians to feel empowered and influential.

When we share opportunities to volunteer with community benefit organizations, it is because we know that “work after clinic” can make one feel disconnected from their community, their profession, and their mission.

Across everything we do, we know that we have done our job well when our physicians indicate that, because they engaged with SFMMS, they feel nourished and sustained.

In this issue of San Francisco Marin Medicine, you will find highlights from the SFMMS Annual Report. It summarizes our accomplishments over the previous year and our strategic priorities going forward. I encourage you to view each and every one of our activities through the lens of physician wellness… because that’s what we do.

Conrad Amenta

One of the Bay Area's biggest hospitals has hit a huge milestone: Zero COVID patients!

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE – MAY 20:

For the first time since March 2020, San Francisco General Hospital has reported zero COVID-19 patients. The development Thursday marked a major pandemic progress point for San Francisco and one of its biggest and best known hospitals. Officials said COVID-19 vaccinations were largely to thank. For the past few weeks, the hospital recorded one or two COVID-19 patients who had recovered but remained at the facility awaiting placement because they were experiencing homelessness or otherwise vulnerable.