Newly
installed ACS President LaMar S. McGinnis, Jr., MD, FACS, spoke to the
College’s 1,259 Initiates about the importance of building on the College’s
historical achievements to face a "century of change like no other."
Newly
installed ACS President LaMar S. McGinnis, Jr., MD, FACS, spoke to the
College’s 1,259 Initiates about the importance of building on the College’s
historical achievements to face a "century of change like no other."
In his Presidential Address, LaMar S. McGinnis, Jr., MD, FACS, newly installed ACS President, spoke to the College’s 1,259 Initiates about the importance of maintaining professionalism in the 21st century and building on the College’s historical achievements to face a “century of change like no other.” Dr. McGinnis explained that while the College is a young organization, especially when compared with the royal colleges and societies around the world, the organization has “afforded a strong foundation that has served us well. Our surgical forefathers set the model and the standards of our professionalism. Our heritage is our strength!” Dr. McGinnis’ address was delivered during the Convocation ceremony Sunday night at McCormick Place.
In speaking about the evolving role of the surgeon, he stated that, “…surgeons will continue to be valued and sought out in this 21st century, and to be important players as we move to more integrated systems of health care delivery…the integral role of the surgeon will persist.”
Dr. McGinnis’ address covered three distinct areas: The past, present, and future. He encouraged Initiates to make our heritage readily available and to “treasure and remember lessons learned.” He touched on the founding of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons (originally titled Surgery, Gynecology and Obstetrics), and the annual Clinical Congress, which he described as the “single, largest annual educational venue for surgeons in the world.”
After examining the accomplishments of the past, Dr. McGinnis focused on the current health care climate. He noted that health care costs worldwide have increased two percent per year for the last 20 years, and that health care costs in the U.S. are approaching 18 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and that estimates indicate that that figure may grow to 20 percent by 2020, and 50 percent by 2050. “The American public loves their doctor, but is frustrated by our sick care, non-system and associated, continually burgeoning costs. These cyclic, recurrent concerns have been voiced over 150 years in most of the developed world, but at this point in time, in this country, the forces for change are dominant,” said Dr. McGinnis. “Most in our profession agree that change is needed. Our College supports change and has been joined by 19 surgical specialty organizations in seeking the right kind of change—change that will benefit our patients and the publics’ health overall.”
“Health measures, where the U.S. is often found lacking, such as—neonatal death rates, complications of pregnancy, obesity and its accompanying complications, chronic disease management, etc.—are not primarily surgical problems, and they are not even totally medical problems, but rather, social, socioeconomic, educational issues, and issues or personal responsibility as well,” said Dr. McGinnis. “Let me note that the cost issue in health care is not significantly impacted by the oft maligned discipline of surgery. Nonetheless, we are part of this complex medical system and must be part of any sustainable set of solutions.”
In terms of the future of health care, Dr. McGinnis predicted that medical education, training and delivery will radically change and that “successful paradigms of the past and of the present will rapidly fade.” He called for Initiates to be “engaged and active in the full spectrum” of their profession, especially within the College, and urged them to seek out opportunities at all levels, locally, nationally, and internationally.
At one point during his address, Dr. McGinnis posed several powerful, rhetorical questions to the Initiates. “What is a profession?” he asked the crowd of attentive listeners. “What is professionalism? What are the distinguishing characteristics of this noble order that you join tonight?” He cited “acquisition of special knowledge and skills, advanced and continuing education, ethics and evidence of competence” as benchmarks of professionalism, and he called for initiates to “live vigorously in the present” and to “treat your patients well [and] your family even better.”
“Professionalism extends beyond the OR, the clinic and the hospital to your family, your peers and other professional associates,” explained Dr. McGinnis. “You are specially acknowledged, privileged, remunerated, but this must be constantly earned. This is the embodiment of the surgical profession, now, and persisting on through this new millennium.”
In closing, while noting the challenges that are facing surgeons today, Dr. McGinnis told the new Fellows and his audience, that it was his “desire and hope that you will agree that professionalism has been, is, and will be the bulwark that enables us to thrive and to stand tall in any storm. It sets us apart.” Dr. McGinnis’s Presidential Address will be published in the December issue of the ACS Bulletin.