Register now for 2021 virtual annual meeting

WisMed Members are encouraged to attend the Wisconsin Medical Society’s 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting and Membership Briefing on Saturday April 17, 2021 from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. This is an opportunity for Wisconsin Medical Society (Society) physician leaders, management and members to illuminate the most pressing challenges facing members and discuss the strategic direction of the Society.

Although a virtual meeting is not ideal, we are committed to a format centered around conversations between Society officers and members in a way that will be engaging, inclusive and provide insights into what is most relevant and needed by members. To register, click here.*

The meeting is sponsored by WisMed Assure, the only Wisconsin-based insurance firm exclusively serving the health care community, and WisMed Financial. The Society created WisMed Financial to provide financial advice physicians can trust.

*Please note that Zoom may require you to sign up for a free Zoom account before registering for the event. You will receive a confirmation email once your event registration is complete. Please contact membership@wismed.org for assistance.  

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Vote now! Nominees, elections for Society offices

Wisconsin Medical Society Members can now vote for the Society President-elect and Treasurer. According to the Society’s Constitution, Article V, the President-elect and Treasurer will be elected by the general membership. In past years, this was done in conjunction with the House of Delegates (HOD). However, with the changes to the HOD, all Wisconsin Medical Society Members can now vote via a new system.

The Nominating Committee of the Wisconsin Medical Society prepared a slate of nominees for Society offices during its January 22 meeting. The nominees, including those for American Medical Association (AMA) Delegate and Alternate Delegate, are as follows:

• President-elect: Wendy Molaska, MD
• AMA Delegate 2022 and 2023: George M. Lange, MD
• AMA Alternate 2022 and 2023: Don S. Lee, MD

The Board of Directors reelected Dr. George Lange as AMA Delegate and Dr. Don Lee as AMA Alternate delegate at its January 23, 2021 meeting.

The Wisconsin Medical Society Board of Directors, as directed by the Society’s Bylaws, selected the nominee for Treasurer on February 19, 2021:

• Treasurer – Mr. John Cook, CPA

The ballot for President-elect and Treasurer will be available via the announcement in the WisMed Members Community found here until the close of business Monday, March 15. All Wisconsin Medical Society members are eligible to vote. The candidate materials are available for review here.*

*Wisconsin Medical Society members must log into WisMed Community using their own login and password to review materials and cast their ballot. Please contact membership@wismed.org or 800.762.8975 if you need help logging into the community site.

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SARS-CoV-2 CME series now available on demand

In partnership with the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and the Wisconsin Medical Society COVID-19 Task Force, a SARS-CoV-2 CME series was presented over the past several weeks to a broad audience of physicians. This four-part series, along with SARS-CoV-2 courses presented by experts from the Medical College of Wisconsin, is now available on demand via the Society’s education center.

Topics include:

• Updates on COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution and Safety
• SARS CoV-2 mutations, immunity duration and transmissibility after vaccine, effect of vaccine on testing for the virus
• Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in Systems
• SARS CoV-2 infections in children and adolescents and pathophysiology of unusual effect of the virus

For more information including the link to register, click here.

Please contact education@wismed.org with any questions.

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Member-exclusive early career finances with the White Coat Investor

There’s still time to register for the member-exclusive webinar Early Career Financial Management presented by James Dahle, MD, on March 25 from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. This is a great opportunity to learn from one of your most respected peers in the field on this subject matter. This event is hosted by the Wisconsin Medical Society, WisMed Assure and WisMed Financial with special thanks to ProAssurance for sponsoring.

Dr. Dahle of the White Coat Investor® will speak on financial topics crucial to your success as an early career physician – such as student loans, insurance and investing. He is convinced that increasing the financial security of doctors enables them to be better partners, parents and doctors along with reducing burnout, decreasing suicide risk and improving patient care. 

Dr. Dahle is a practicing emergency physician and veteran from Salt Lake City, UT who became interested in personal finance and investing after becoming disillusioned with the way he was treated by several unscrupulous financial professionals. He started the White Coat Investor website in 2011. It rapidly grew into the most widely read, physician-specific personal finance and investing website in the world. He has written three Amazon best-selling books, publishes two weekly podcasts, developed multiple online courses and holds an annual conference all aimed at helping his fellow physicians become more financially literate.

Early registration is encouraged for this special event.

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Info needed: What’s your experience with health care power of attorney forms?

National Healthcare Decisions Day is on April 16, and is intended to help educate the public on the benefits of advance care planning and inspiring people to “have the conversation” about preparing advance directives, making health care power of attorney designations and ensuring loved ones understand end-of-life wishes. The day also emphasizes how important it is for physicians to support their state’s advance care planning programs and opportunities.

Wisconsin Medical Society past president George Lange, MD, continues to champion the advance directives issue and would like to know how physicians around the state are embracing this important effort to fulfil patient wishes – or learn what is getting in the way of more widespread use of advance directives.

Please email Dr. Lange with information about your practice:

• Are health care power of attorney forms completed where you practice?
  • If so, how? If not, why not?
• What would help you and/or your workplace inspire greater use of advance directives?
• Is your office, clinic or system doing anything to promote National Healthcare Decisions Day?
  • If so, are you willing to share those efforts so others may replicate them.

Thank you for what you do to help the Society recognize National Healthcare Decisions Day for 2021!

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Wisconsin Academy of Ophthalmology after hours series

During “Who, What, When, Where, How for Eye Missions,” March 16 from 7 to 8 p.m., Kevin Wienkers, MD, will share his experience in mission work. He will also speak about how to get involved and why others should, too. Register here.

Dr. Wienkers has been in practice for 35 years in Green Bay as a comprehensive ophthalmologist. He grew up in southwest Wisconsin, attended medical school at UW Madison and completed his residency at the Indiana University. He has been involved in six missions to date. His missions include Tonga, Philippines, Siliguri India, Myanmar (twice) and Burkina, Faso.

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Free buprenorphine X-Waiver trainings for eligible Wisconsin prescribers

The Wisconsin Society of Addiction Medicine (WISAM) will host eight virtual trainings in 2021 through a partnership grant with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. This series is designed to increase treatment capacity for opioid use disorders by training more prescribers to be able to treat opioid use disorders with buprenorphine.

This live course has been approved by the Wisconsin Medical Examining Board as meeting the requirements for the two-hour continuing education course on responsible opioid prescribing per Med 13.03(3) of the Wisconsin Administrative Code. The ASAM Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder Course (TOUD) involves 4 hours of online training paired with 4 hours of in-person training. The self-paced online course will be available through ASAM’s website upon registration. View the full schedule of trainings and register online.