PCMS_Philadelphia_Medicine_Summer2017 - 31

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A CONVERSATION WITH DR . CADENCE KIM

How are today's med students like you and
your peers?

What do you hope to accomplish during your term
as PCMS president?

The students I know are as bright and as enthusiastic as I was
when I went to medical school. They are excited to be there.
Some people are cynical about medicine today, and I can see
why, but medicine is still such a fulfilling profession.

I hope I can attract more members - both young and old - who
currently don't feel the need to belong to the Philadelphia Country
Medical Society. I want to help them realize that this organization is
here to help them. We are small. We listen. We will try to help.

What one piece of advice would you give them?

Many physicians are feeling burnt out. At a time of a physician
shortage, a growing number of physicians are choosing early retirement
or thinking about career changes. They have been beaten down by
the bureaucracy, the denials of radiological tests, prescription denials,
the extra hours at the end of the day spent completing the electronic
health record or finishing the never-ending task list.

Work hard. Patients' lives are at stake. You chose this profession
because you wanted to make a difference and do something with
your life that was both intellectually and emotionally satisfying.
Make a difference.

What one book would you recommend to med
students?
I just finished this book and cannot help but recommend
it. The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee is a
fantastic book about medicine. Mukherjee wrote it during his
residency in hematology/oncology. It is a thoughtful, reflective,
educational book about cancer and the development of the
modern treatment of it.

We need a medical society that can advocate for physician autonomy
so that we can practice medicine the way we were taught, instead of
doing all the tasks that are taking us away from our patients. *

What's high on your list for things that need to
change in the medical profession?

up coming

I want physicians to be able to spend more time seeing and
caring for our patients and less time performing data entry. We
need to spend less time on our work lists and task lists. We need
better electronic health records. Some of us now need more IT
support. We need to advocate for easier, faster pre-authorizations.

the bernard behrend lecture

As a female surgeon, are there specific issues related
to women and medicine?
Last year's JAMA article took me by surprise. I was unaware
of any pay discrepancies based on gender in medicine. I was
wrong. I will advocate for equal pay for equal work regardless
of one's gender.
I will also advocate for our future doctors, our current medical
students. The debt some of them will face at graduation is
staggering. Many have as much as $200,000 or more in debt.
We are not going to continue to have the best and brightest
members of the class going to medical school if this continues.

LECTURES AND EVENTS

jun 12: Mozart's Death: Dastardly
Conspiracies, Medical Fables
with speaker Dr. Robert Greenberg

concerts at the college presents
jun 18: Relâche
oct 23: Akropolis Reed Quintet
oct 31: Jazz Doctors
nov 20: Philadelphia Orchestra Musicians

for more, visit: collegeofphysicians.org

Summer 2017 : Philadelphia Medicine 31
https://philamedsoc.org/ http://www.collegeofphysicians.org
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