Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I am writing from my desk in Hendersonville, NC. You are likely in the midst of seeing patients, or sitting at your office desks or homes, also in Western NC. We all love living here and working here, raising our families here, and likely plan to retire here. It is a beautiful part of the country, with a diverse landscape, and an eclectic mix of people. We all serve these people and each other in our professions and in our communities, and we can preserve our ability to do this by supporting our local physician-led Western Carolina Medical Society. 

As the president of the Western Carolina Medical Society, I have learned the true importance of being able to thrive in living and working here, and WCMS wants to make sure that it continues to be this way. We strive to connect physicians and physician assistants from across the region with other physicians, physician assistants, and their families. We know it's important that we all work together to ensure our freedoms are preserved. Making those connections at regional events and forums through the local medical society has been a blessing and has helped me in my career with referrals, relationships, and educational growth. It has also helped me personally in meeting other families and physicians who are like-minded and can share successes as well as failures.

Local advocacy is a large part of what we do. We work directly with the NCMS to help lobby to ensure our profession stays viable and effective. I have been to Raleigh, but I have also talked with our legislators right here at home. We need to lobby on a state and federal level, but what happens locally is just as important. The WCMS, with your input, can affect change here! We have provided forums for hospital and community leaders to talk with members. We are actively providing support for burnout prevention and love of work with local events, professional coaches, and therapists through WCMS' Healthy Healer Program. We work with local businesses that support us and our members. We are your local resource, right here to serve you in WNC!

As your 2017 President, I have enjoyed meeting many of you and representing you and your interests, and I will continue to support WCMS in the future.

Sincerely,

MaryShell Zaffino, MD

2017 WCMS Board President

Open enrollment for health insurance plans bought under the Affordable Care Act, AKA Obamacare, is just ahead - Nov. 1-Dec. 15. This year's enrollment period will be only half as long as last year's. Also the advertising budget for letting people know when they need to enroll has been cut by 90 percent. So if your health insurance is through the ACA, please know that you need to get on it quickly once Nov. 1 arrives. And please let everyone else know these are the dates.  Read more here. 

WCMS is proud to announce another high quality addition to the series of "The Physicians' Voice," a series of media presentations for the general public that showcase physicians' world-class medical expertise and focus on patient/community health.  

A native of Gallatin, TN, Dr. Hooper attended Washington and Lee University for his undergraduate studies. Dr. Hooper joins Asheville Urological Associates following 5 years serving as an Urologist in Haywood County. Dr. Hooper's special interests include stone disease, kidney cancer, benign conditions of the prostate, and men's health. Dr. Hooper is board certified by the American Board of Urology and is a member of the American Urological Association.  

The Article is titled "Prostate cancer screening is controversial, with good reason".   

This week is also an opportunity to raise awareness and visibility of the profession.

Before it was a weeklong event, National PA Day was first celebrated on October 6, 1987, in honor of the 20th anniversary of the first graduating class of PAs from the Duke University PA program. October 6 is also the birthday of the profession's founder, Eugene A. Stead, Jr., MD. Now the profession is  50 years strong!  Get social media posters and banners to help celebrate your PAs here.