President's Message: Moving on From Annus Horribilus

Monique Schaulis, MD, MPH, FAAHPM

MOVING ON FROM ANNUS HORRIBILUS

"To support quality health care and the practice of medicine, we must move forward with the same focus that we’ve had for the last 152 years: a combination of society, education, and action."

I never took Latin, but know enough Spanish, French, and medicalese to understand this phrase. What’s unusual is that it wasn't my bad year, or yours, but the collective experience of billions.

I know that given the current pace of change, this column is likely to be obsolete by the time you read it. But things are looking up. Our new president is just days into his term. Medical workers have been vaccinated. Despite significant obstacles, our family’s elders have gotten a dose and I feel such relief that they are safer. I remain wary after the repeated punishments of 2020 but fervently hope that 2021 will be light at the end of the tunnel.

I have been proud of our city through this pandemic. Through our collective confidence in science, we have been able to repeatedly push back on the virus. Our scientists and researchers are at the forefront of treatments and vaccines as our clinicians work hard to save lives. Public health officers acknowledge glaring disparities and work to right them at the same time as they frenetically organize testing and mass vaccinations. I feel our collective responsibility in action as I run in Golden Gate park and along the Great Highway. While taking care of our precious physical and mental health by exercising outdoors, we respectfully distance and mask.

SFMMS is strong. Despite 2020, we have accomplished much, and have even grown stronger on zoom. Seeing our families, pets, and homes has allowed me a glimpse of our members not only as physicians, but as people, reminding me that community is the most important ingredient in the medical society's secret sauce.

It is especially easy now for physicians to become isolated in their disciplines or institutions, and even in their own suffering. SFMMS, by bringing us together, can help be part of our healing. This social aspect of the medical society is a necessity, not a luxury. As we work together on public health and advocacy, we must remember that personal ties are the glue that unites physicians in SF and Marin. To support quality health care and the practice of medicine, we must move forward with the same focus that we’ve had for the last 152 years: a combination of society, education, and action. Together forward! Monique

Dr. Monique Schaulis, MD, MPH, FAAHPM, is a graduate of the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. She practices Emergency and Palliative Medicine with The Permanente Medical Group in San Francisco. She is President of SFMMS and serves as faculty for Vital Talk, a non-profit that teaches communication skills for serious illness. Dr. Schaulis chairs the Medical Aid in Dying special interest group for the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.