A MESSAGE FROM OUR PRESIDENT
Dr Brian Herr, MD

I would like to start by thanking my peers from the FWMS board of trustees for allowing me the honor of the position of president.  I have been a trustee for about 5 years now and have had the privilege of working with some excellent leaders within the society.  That tenure started at a time when the society had gone through a significant organizational change. Essentially the script had to be re-written. I have really appreciated watching these great leaders do their work, and the respect that I have gained for them makes this even more so, such a meaningful honor, so thank you. You give a great example of leadership, and motivation to continue moving forward with the society.

I started practicing 17 years ago, and looking back on that time, one thing that really stood out to me was the collegiality within our local physician community.  It became apparent to me, that the level of communication between physicians and specifically, their support for each other, was truly unique.  I certainly had not experienced this in my previous clinical setting. Over my time here, I have seen this change to some degree.  I am sure this is for a myriad of reasons, including the further sub specialization of medicine, the growth in the number of providers in our geographic region, the diversification of the provision of care from physicians to mid-level providers, and maybe the most so due to the steady migration away from independent practice to employment by large health systems.  So, it seems, that once fruitful level of collegiality and communication that I think we once all appreciated here in Fort Wayne has degraded to some extent.  It is for this reason, that I feel now more than ever, the strength and future of the Fort Wayne Medical Society is so crucial.

The Fort Wayne Medical Society has tremendous history, but historical significance alone will not sustain the society indefinitely, we need to maintain relevance.  Relevance will lead to a robust membership, and a robust membership is the key to continuing our mission in the support of local physicians’ efforts to maintain the highest level of quality health care to our community.