This year has proven to be more challenging than anyone could have ever anticipated. While there is always so much to share with you, content is outdated as quickly as it is received and certainly before I can share it with you, most of the time. Although I regularly want to share or send you a quick email, I resist as I understand how many emails you already receive and how valuable your time is. If you are ever wondering about an issue and wonder if I have the latest information or insight, please feel free to call me and we can chat briefly about whatever is on your mind. My direct line is (707) 620-0808. I am here for you!
A couple of you have asked if SCMA is participating with Sonoma County Public Health in vaccine distribution. We will let you know as soon as we have something for you. We are closely watching, listening and making our staff and resources available as needed.
Be safe and Thank You for your service to the community. Whatever you are celebrating this month, I hope you can find some joy before the end of 2020. Happy Holiday Season to you and yours
Please respond to this survey. Your response is anonymous:
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Do you plan to get the covid vaccine once available to caregivers in Sonoma County?
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Yes, I want to be first in line when available!
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Still unsure. Waiting for more info.
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Click the links below for current information and statistics in each county.
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CMA FREE/CONFIDENTIAL PEER COACHING
and PHYSICIAN ENGAGEMENT GROUPS
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Physician facilitator needed for local engagement groups |
The CMA Wellness Program and Sonoma County Medical Association are pleased to announce that physician wellness engagement groups will soon be forming in Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake counties.
Wellness engagement groups hold monthly discussions to cultivate professional fulfillment and provide support to physician colleagues. Meetings will be held virtually, but may meet in person when public health protocols allow. Groups are led by volunteer physician facilitators, and participants reflect all specialties, practice settings and backgrounds.
As a first step, we are seeking physicians to facilitate North Bay groups. Please see Frequently Asked Questions for more information. If you would like to facilitate or form a group, please submit a facilitator application. If you would prefer to join an engagement group as a participant rather than a facilitator, participant enrollment will be opening soon. Contact Wendy Young at exec@scma.org for more details.
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Tips to feel more empowered |
Few have escaped feelings of grief, burnout and exhaustion this year, and as community healers, physicians shoulder the double responsibility of caring for the health of their own minds, bodies and spirits, so they can provide the best patient care. To that end, the CMA wellness initiative offers free and confidential peer coaching — with trained physicians and nurses — to build empowerment around the unique challenges healthcare workers are facing in the global pandemic.
CMA Wellness’ peer coaches understand the rigors and emotional stresses of the medical profession and have offered the following advice to help remain calm, centered and empowered:
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Treat yourself as you would treat a friend.
- Allow yourself a moment as you transition from work to home
- (and vice versa).
- Pay attention to what is good in your life and actively savor it.
- Take a cleansing breath before you enter a patient’s exam room.
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Be kind to others and yourself. We’re all trying our best.
- Give yourself a mindful massage while washing your hands.
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You will provide optimal patient care if you care for yourself first.
The Care 4 Caregivers Now peer coaching program is open to physicians (MD and DO), physician assistants, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, certified respiratory therapists, registered respiratory therapists, residents/fellows, medical students, public health officers and medical reserve corps volunteers.
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The Sonoma Community Resilience Collaborative invites you to join them for
10-minute virtual meditation breaks, Mondays thru Fridays at 10:00 a.m., led by trained facilitators. These live, audio-only sessions are designed to fit into your workday and can be accessed easily by computer or phone.
or call: (669) 900-6833. Meeting code: 8523553870#.
Find a comfortable and quiet place, and take a few important minutes for self-care through guided meditation and other mind-body skills.
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A Conversation with State Leaders and Members of President-Elect Joe Biden's Coronavirus Task Force. The California Health and Human Services Agency (CHHS) and California Medical Association (CMA) hosted a conversation with physicians who hold central roles in our national COVID-19 response.
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WEDNESDAY, DEC. 9, 2020: 4:00–5:00 p.m., Webinar "Telemedicine in Asthma Management: What Clinicians Need to Know," 1 CME Credit, Sponsored by the American Lung Association and Rockpointe ‣ CLICK HERE
TUESDAY, DEC. 15, 2020: 10:00–11:00 a.m., Webinar "Telemedicine in Asthma Management: What Clinicians Need to Know," 1 CME Credit, Sponsored by the American Lung Association and Rockpointe ‣ CLICK HERE
Webinar: Telehealth Reimbursement and Privacy Laws: COVID–19 Emergency ‣ WATCH HERE
Webinar: Employment and Practice Staffing Issues: COVID–19 Emergency ‣ WATCH HERE
Podcast "What the Health?" Transition Interrupted ‣ LISTEN HERE
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SCMA Welcomes:
Federico Leon, MD
Family Medicine
St. Joseph Health Medical Group
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COVID-19 NEWS AND UPDATES |
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Coronavirus and obesity:
Doctors take aim at food industry over poor diets
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A cardiologist has blamed the food industry for "normalizing" ultra-processed junk food as more evidence emerges suggesting poor diet is the root cause behind increased mortality from COVID-19.
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Lessons for success during the pandemic and beyond |
The team of risk management and practice management experts at the Cooperative of American Physicians, Inc. (CAP) recently published Future-Proofing Your Practice: Eight Resources and Lessons for Success During the Pandemic and Beyond to help physicians find new opportunities for practice profitability and ensure safe/successful business operations for providing ongoing care.
Become a CAP member and begin saving today!
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IN MEMORIAM
SCMA extends its condolences to the family and friends of Ransom Buck Turner, MD, who passed away in August 2020. Dr. Turner served as president of SCMA in 1983. Read obituary here.
CLASSIFIEDS
California Homemakers Association (CHA) asks you to join them in building a free preventive medical benefit on behalf of their Sonoma County membership of low-paid workers. CHA is a free and voluntary, unincorporated, private membership association of in-home care, domestic and other low-paid service workers. For over 20 years, CHA has built a free-of-charge Eleven-Point Benefit Program—run by members for members. All are volunteers.
The program includes emergency food and clothing, non-emergency dental care, preventive medical care, utility advocacy and more. Members have joined together to alleviate some immediate hardships, while building organization to end the root cause of their poverty.
Volunteer physicians and medical professionals are urgently needed to spend an afternoon or evening giving a talk and answering questions about topics members request as part of their preventive medical benefit. Please consider volunteering a few hours to provide medical consultation to those who have no other access to preventive care. For more information, call Erica at 707-591-9573, see the program flier, or visit the CHA website.
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SCMA and MLCMS members can place FREE classified ads in News Briefs. (Cost for nonmember physicians and the general public is $1 per word.) To place a classified ad or display banner, contact Susan Gumucio at susan@scma.org or 707-481-8995. |
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Contact SCMA|MLCMS: exec@scma.org
or: rachel@scma.org | 707-525-4375
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