It’s your Academy.
Now let’s get to work!

By Douglas Curran, M.D., TAFP President

As I think about the year ahead, my thoughts move to the things that have made me who and what I am. I have reflected on information gleaned from better thinkers than myself, such as Bill Hybels, John Ortberg and Kyle Henderson. These individuals with outstanding leadership skills have given me insight into what has made my life more enjoyable and how I have developed similar leadership skills, which I hope to use to improve the Texas Academy of Family Physicians.

As I began thinking about what I wanted to say to the Academy at my inauguration as TAFP President this July, I got to thinking about memorable moments in my life, starting with my own family. I was born into a family with strategic interests in empowering its kids, and my parents had the great vision to put a lot of effort into that. Siblings have a huge influence on you and your development — maybe even a larger influence than your parents — and I was really blessed to have had three brothers and a sister to encourage me.

When we grow up, we go through other great moments in life. One of the first is when we begin to speak. Some people start talking and enjoy it so much that they never stop! I watched my kids develop into powerful communicators with opinions and attitudes that have made them stronger and better people. Mobility is also a great moment in our lives. When we begin to walk, run, play and do things that help us move around, we start to adventure into areas where we never have before. We explore, move out and learn how to drive.

One of the greatest moments in my life was when I met my wife, Sandra. I spent some time getting to know her and fell in love with her. This was the beginning of a relationship that has matured now for over 36 years.

Other great moments came for me during my education when I graduated from high school, college and medical school. Though I can’t believe it’s possible, I graduated from medical school 30 years ago. Truly, I have had wonderful opportunities to become involved in folks’ lives as a result of completing a medical degree. After medical school and residency, I moved to Henderson County, Texas and into the community of Athens. I have developed numerous friends and a love of the East Texas community. The best part of being in Athens has been the opportunity to work with my fellow partners in practice, including Dr. Ken Lemmon, Dr. Ted Mattetal, Dr. Norm Jennings, Dr. Ron Heine, Dr. Marc Abadie, Dr. Donald Carney, Dr. Richard David, Dr. Steven Koerth, Dr. Wally Mahmoud and Dr. Jon Rich. Those relationships have made living and working in Henderson County a real special part of being here.

Reflecting on all these special events in my life, I realize that these are all great moments. If you really think about it, the greatest moment in your life is right now. This moment is the only opportunity that we really have to make a difference and change things.

This is our opportunity to reflect on the past, look to the future and move forward. It is our opportunity to serve in whatever capacity we are driven to serve. Living for the moment and living in the moment are very important, and if we really believe that, there are some things that we must do as an Academy to move forward and to be successful during the next year.

Academy leadership must keep the vision clear as to where we are going and what we are doing. At the present time we have a health care system — both at the state and national levels — that is badly broken. The health care system does not deliver the care that patients need. As health care providers and family physicians, we must lead the way to a health care environment that allows everyone in America to have a medical home and receive medical care.

It is my contention that family medicine is the hope for health care in America. It remains the hope for health care because of the core values that family doctors have always had, the same core values that were incorporated into the initial concepts of our specialty. We have continuing, comprehensive, compassionate and personal care for our patients. We are concerned with the care of people of all ages. We understand that health involves the mind, body and the spirit. As members of our patients’ families and communities, these issues take place in the context of patients’ lives. Realizing all of this, one has to conclude that, indeed, family medicine is the hope for health care in America. We need to present this clear vision to our people: with the values of family doctors, we can improve our health care system.

To get that done, we need to engage family physicians. We will use some empowerment techniques developed by Capt. D. Michael Abrashoff in his book, “It’s Your Ship.” Abrashoff took command of one of the worst ships in the U.S. Navy, one that was going nowhere and that nobody wanted to be on. Subsequent to his taking command of this ship he began to empower his crew. He expressed to them that this ship was their ship and that they could make it better if they wanted to. If they took ownership in the ship and believed in the things that needed to be done, they could make it the best ship in the Navy. Indeed, over a very short period of time, Abrashoff turned around the worst ship in the Navy to one on which everyone wanted to serve. They wanted to be a part of it because the captain had made strategic commitments to the men who worked on the ship. He allowed them to have input and express their opinions about the management of the ship, and he, in turn, used their ideas. In this way, the crew embraced the idea that “it is my ship.”

This encouragement of ownership is what I want to foster over the next year. We are lucky because the TAFP ship is the best in the fleet, but if we all take ownership and invest ourselves by being committed leaders, imagine what we can do.

Those in leadership positions are going to be asked to do extra. They are going to be significantly committed to making things happen. They are going to be the ones who put in the effort and who are willing to go the second mile. I want you to know in this deal there are no small dreams. We are not making this effort just to get a dollar raise in Medicare or Medicaid fees. We want to change health care in America. We will dream big, we will shoot for the stars and we will at least hit the moon. We are going to get way up there. TAFP leadership is going to ask you to participate, even if you have not participated before, because you have great abilities and skills.

We want to hear from you about your abilities and desire for change. We will clearly define what we ask you to do and let you know what our expectations are, as well as expect you to carry out the plan. If you are off by about 20 degrees, we will try to get you back on the course that you need to be on. We are going to ask you to evaluate yourself and give us feedback. We are going to say “thanks a lot” a lot of times. We are going to give you a lot of “atta boys” and “atta girls” for all the things that you are doing.

Another thing that we will do is make our gatherings memorable. When we get together, we are going to have a good time with good food, a lot of fun and a lot of activities. We are going to continue to work on things and try to make a real difference. I want us to have such fun when we are all together working on a project that when each person leaves you feel like you can’t wait until the next gathering to work together again and make things better for both our specialty and our patients.

We will pace ourselves for the long haul, not go at this in such a manner that we burn out in a hurry. We are going to try to pace ourselves like Dean Karnazes describes in his book, “Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an all-night runner.” Dean was a runner when he was in high school, but after this period, he didn’t run for a long time. In his 30s, he decided to pick up running again. Initially he ran some 5-kilometer races, which almost killed him, but he kept working, progressing to 10Ks and then to 26-mile marathons. Subsequent to marathons, he began running 100-mile races that were meant for a team of four to split in a relay-style. Dean, however, would run the whole hundred miles. Then, he tackled a 200-mile run. His ability to succeed was centered on his ability to pace himself. If he didn’t pace himself, he could not have completed the 200-mile race. He had a van that would come along on his races and when he was completely exhausted and couldn’t go any further, he would get into the van and lay down to rest and re-hydrate before continuing the race.

We family physicians must make sure that we are spending some time in our hypothetical van, re-hydrating, resting and recuperating, because the race we are running is just like the 200-mile race. We have a long way to go, and after my year as TAFP President, I will pass the baton off to another leader to keep running. We must pace ourselves and be sure we are in this for the long haul. I will commit to you that if we work hard, we can make a huge difference. We can begin moving down the road to make health care better for all Americans.

We are going to do these things. We are going to keep the vision clear. We are going to be sure everyone understands that family medicine is the hope for health care in America. We are going to get our people involved. We are going to get you to acknowledge that you can make a difference in this Academy and in health care. We are going to make our gatherings fun and when we are together we are going to have good food, good ideas, good thoughts and a respect for others as we work hard and have fun together. We are going to pace ourselves for the long haul so that we keep running this race until we win it and win the prize in the end — good quality health care for all.

I appreciate the opportunity to serve as president of the Texas Academy of Family Physicians. I commit to you my unyielding and passionate efforts to make health care in America better through a commitment to family medicine and a medical home for all.