CSOM PRESIDENT'S PAGE

2009-2010 President: Michael J. Mohr, DO, FAAFP

President's Message Fall 2009

Greetings from Denver! CSOM has been busy getting ready for CME in the City. This conference will be held at Rocky Vista University – College of Osteopathic Medicine October 24th – 25th, 2009. This annual update in primary care will cover many relevant topics pertaining to patient care. Also COPIC will sponsor an ERS lecture with a lunch on Saturday October 24th. Please contact Rachel at CSOM for registration information. Make sure you watch the website for further Keystone information as well!

CSOM is also working with the Colorado Medical Society, Colorado Academy of Family Practice, Colorado Chapter of American Academy of Pediatrics, and Colorado Clinical Guidelines Collaborative to help further develop strategies to institute the Patient Centered Medical Home into the healthcare system. The Colorado Health Foundation has provided a generous grant to help with this effort. There will be a meeting at the end of the month to discuss issues related to the Medical Home. I urge you to complete the survey that has been sent out to all physicians to help guide the discussions at the meeting.

During this time of debate over the future of healthcare in America, the CSOM staff and legislative committee are continually monitoring this situation. It is important to stay informed about the issues because it is a fluid situation. It will also be a busy legislative session here in Colorado, which starts next January. It is vitally important to stay connected, informed and ready to discuss healthcare issues with your representatives. The grassroots efforts put forth to the legislature can be very effective.

CSOM membership has continued to grow over the past few years. This will strengthen our society and help with representation at the local and national levels. Also, the Colorado Delegation to the AOA – House of Delegates increased from 5 to 7 seats this past July. I would like to ask all CSOM members to reach out to our Osteopathic colleagues and encourage them to join the society.

The Advocates of CSOM have become very active in the Osteopathic community. They have developed two programs to support Osteopathic Medical Students. The “Silent Angel” fund is for students in urgent need of financial support to buy necessities. Also the “ACSOM Scholarship” will help students purchase books and other educational material. These are great programs and I want to thank President Sara Harrison and ACSOM for all their hard work in these ventures. Please help support this organization and I encourage family and friends of Osteopathic medicine to join the ACSOM.

I would like to wish you all a wonderful fall and look forward to meeting you over the next year. See you at CME in the City and Keystone!