Enjoy your Thursday NCMS Morning Rounds
March 11, 2021
Joint Statement on the Importance of Getting a COVID-19 Vaccine
Yesterday a group of state health care organizations, spearheaded by the NCMS, issued a joint media statement encouraging North Carolinians to get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as they become eligible to receive one.
The NCMS was joined by the NC Academy of Family Physicians, the NC Health Care Association, the NC Community Health Center Association, the NC Public Health Association and the NC Association of Public Health Directors in urging vaccination with one of the authorized COVID-19 vaccines, regardless of brand. This is a crucial step – in addition to continuing to follow the 3 ‘Ws’ public health protocols – in ending the pandemic.
The Future is Now – Future Clinician Leaders College Underway
The NCMS Foundation’s Kanof Institute for Physician Leadership Future Clinician Leaders College program is underway with 32 participants from a variety of professional programs and representing educational institutions throughout the state. See the class of 2021 roster here.
This unique one-year program, in partnership with NC AHEC, is an interprofessional leadership development program for emerging leaders currently in health care professional training. This year’s class includes MD, PA, occupational therapy, physician therapy, nurse anesthetist, dentistry and pharmacy degree candidates. The interactive learning format allows for individual reflection and leadership growth and enhanced communication and perspectives within a health care team.
Participants actively engage with faculty, speakers and peers and have the opportunity to interact with state leaders and utilize their leadership skills through a team project that aims to tackle major health policy challenges facing the state.
You can see the issues addressed by last year’s class in this compendium of their project white papers. Access the white papers here.
Learn more about the program here, or, to apply for the 2022 cohort, please contact Aubrey Cuthbertson. Deadline for applications for next year’s class is November 13, 2021.
In Memoriam: William ‘Bill’ Bowman, MD
Longtime NCMS member William ‘Bill’ Bowman, MD, passed away unexpectedly last weekend. Dr. Bowman served on the NCMS Board of Directors, a variety of NCMS committees and was a longtime member of the NC delegation to the American Medical Association (AMA). He also was past Chair of the Board for the NC Professionals Health Program.
A general surgeon, Dr. Bowman retired from Cone Health in 2016 after serving as Executive Vice President of Medical Affairs. His colleagues at Cone remembered Dr. Bowman as “both an excellent physician and a kind and well-respected leader.” During his tenure at Cone he also served as Chief of Surgery and President of the Medical and Dental Staff.
Dr. Bowman received his undergraduate degree from Davidson College and his MD from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. He did his residency at Letterman Army Medical Center in San Francisco and began practicing in Greensboro in 1981, eventually joining what is today Central Carolina Surgery.
Dr. Bowman is remembered fondly by NCMS staff as well as by his physician and PA colleagues as a genuine, respectful and compassionate voice in facing challenging health policy issues as well as in dealing with his patients.
We extend our sympathies to Dr. Bowman’s wife, Gay, who is a past president of the NCMS and AMA Alliances, his family and many friends.
In the News
Online Symptom Checkers Can Lead To Delayed Treatment For Serious Conditions, Becker’s Hospital IT, 3-9-21
Learning Opportunity
Institutionalizing Equity: Public Health Leaders Advance Organizational Change, March 19, 1 – 2:15 p.m.
This session will feature a discussion on the importance of leadership when implementing organizational changes to advance health and racial equity. Participants will learn effective methods to prioritize equity and utilize public health leadership to advance structural transformation.
Learn more and register here.
Registration for this event closes on March 15 at 4 p.m.
If you have policies you’d like your NCMS Board of Directors to consider, please complete the Board input form here. Thanks for reading!