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by: Joseph M.P. Zawisza, DO
Odds Are
Last month, I had the opportunity to present brand new white coats to medical students, and tomorrow I’ll be doing so again. Watching the smiles and joy of students don their new symbol of medicine for the first time is exciting! Whether you had a formal ceremony or had to go buy your own white coat, hopefully, you remember the enthusiasm and pride you felt the first time you tried it on and still have that feeling today.
But, every once in a while, I suspect like many of you, I think to myself why am I doing this? Why did I choose a career that requires early mornings and late nights often with thankless hours in between? Why did I enter a profession where you often feel attacked from every angle? What was I thinking?
These thoughts typically come after a particularly bad day at the office or hospital, getting out one or two hours later (or more) than you thought you would, missing an event you really wanted to get to or feeling like every time you put out one fire three more pop up. Hopefully, these days are the exception for you, not the rule, but I think we can all agree that the past 20 months (and counting) have increased many of these feelings for us all.
One of the ways that I try to get past these thoughts is to think of how unlikely it is that I am here in the first place. We all know how difficult it is to get into medical school; the odds are stacked against you before you put your name on the application. Depending on the school and the year, it seems to be that the odds are anywhere between 10:1 and 40:1 that you will matriculate into a school to which you applied. Perhaps as many as 39 other people would have liked the opportunity to wear that white coat and face the problems we face every day!
During a recent conversation with one of my mentors, Anthony DiMarco, DO, he expressed this better than I could by commenting that his late brother, Eugene DiMarco, DO, continued to work even while ill. When asked why he didn’t just stop practicing to deal with his illness the late Dr. DiMarco would say that there were 25 other applicants who wanted the spot he got, and that he felt an obligation and responsibility to treat as many patients as he could. It is inspirational that he continued to work until six months before he passed away.
For the same reason, POMA continues to fight uphill battles every day. It would be easy to just have district meetings the same way as we always have and hope that members will eventually return to them. It would be a lot less hassle for us to note that non-physician clinicians have made advances in other states and give up on the battle to maintain high-quality, physician-led care for all patients in Pennsylvania, or to stop offering our insight to the governor and other legislators simply because they weren’t interested in what we had to say previously. We could just continue to send e-mails to our members and present the same topics at our conferences each year, or for that matter not have a conference until we think the coast is clear.
But the truth is, no matter how idealistic we may be, we all know that just like whatever practice model you work in, the coast is never going to be clear on any of these issues and the myriad others that POMA tackles on your behalf every day. So, despite the obstacles we face, whether it’s our input on healthcare issues falling on deaf ears or not having the infrastructure yet to do something we want to do, know that POMA will keep working for the best results for our osteopathic physicians and their patients each day with the same enthusiasm that we all had on day one!
by: Diana Ewert
POMA On The Move...Roadshow 1.0
Joe Zawisza, DO, POMA President, has a theme of POMA on the Move. POMA as an organization wants to strengthen the relationships we have with residency programs with osteopathic physician graduates. Osteopathically recognized (OR) programs are somewhat easier to get to, but we need to keep in mind that with the single accreditation now fully implemented, osteopathic physicians matched in many more programs across the Commonwealth. We will leave no DO behind, hence the creation of the POMA on the Move Roadshow 1.0. Roadshow 1.0 has a goal of meeting with any program director, DIOs, GME director – who ever we need to – to share what POMA can offer to osteopathic residents. Under the leadership of Lisa Witherite-Rieg, DO, POMA President-elect (and recovering GME program director herself) we are taking our resident program on the road to meet with as many residency programs across the state as possible. POMA has much to offer our osteopathic graduates. If you’re a resident and reading this, email me the contact information for your director and we’ll bring Roadshow 1.0 to your program.
On a separate note, #TeamPOMA has returned to the Central Office and I would like to thank you, on behalf of the team, for the outstanding new space we have to do your work. It is light and bright and beautiful. Members are always welcome. We’d love to show you around.
by: Andy Sandusky
Scope of Practice Issues Take Center Stage for General Assembly's Return
The General Assembly is coming back to Harrisburg next week to convene its fall session, which is expected to last through December. Next Monday, the House Professional Licensure Committee is scheduled to vote on legislation that will lower state oversight of physician assistants and their supervising Osteopathic physicians. Senate Bill 397 is expected to change the number of physician assistants an Osteopathic physician may oversee, change the process of filing written agreements and leave ongoing countersignature responsibilities up to the Osteopathic physician and the physician assistant in a written agreement. POMA is not supportive of the legislation but is pleased that it has been significantly modified since its first iteration. Still, it was not enough to gain POMA’s support which again, still has patient safety concerns with the proposal. We will provide more details in the coming weeks on any changes enacted for those POMA members who are in written agreements supervising physician assistant(s).
Additionally, the House Professional Licensure Committee is holding an informational hearing on Monday and POMA’s own Past-President, Joan M. Grzybowski, DO will be providing testimony. The issue is whether the General Assembly should make permanent, pharmacist scope of practice expansions that were authorized by a waiving of exiting law and regulation under COVID-19. POMA is not supportive of some of those changes that include permitting pharmacists with the ability to provide all immunizations to all patients three years and older. Current law restricts the influenza vaccine to ages 9 and above. We will again provide additional details after the hearing next week.
Physician Suicide Awareness Day
Today is National Physician Suicide Awareness Day.
In order to address the issue of physician suicide, the Council of Residency Directors in Emergency Medicine (CORD), in collaboration with AAEM, ACEP, ACOEP, EMRA, RSA, RSO, and SAEM have come together to annually dedicate September 17th as National Physician Suicide Awareness (NPSA) Day.
The organizations issued Vision Zero, calling on “individuals, residency programs, health care organizations and national groups to make a commitment to break down stigma, increase awareness, open the conversation, decrease the fear of consequences, reach out to colleagues, recognize warning signs and learn to approach our colleagues who may be at risk.”
We encourage you to help spread the word by sharing our social media posts today as well as other organizations posting about this important issue.
Blanket Mask Exemptions Raise Significant Concerns About Medical Judgement
There are press reports in Pennsylvania of a physician who has been offering blanket mask exemptions for individuals. Issuance of a mask exemption without medical evaluation and a valid medical reason brings into question whether the physician exercised appropriate medical judgment and could lead to investigation and potential disciplinary action by the applicable state board of medicine. Besides possible licensure disciplinary measures, POMA is concerned that a physician who gives a blanket exemption could face civil liability not only from the physician’s patients but, possibly, from third parties. It is possible that a court might find that injury or death from Covid-19 resulting from a person infected by someone not wearing a mask with the permission of a physician given without exercising medical judgment was the proximate, foreseeable cause of the injury or death from Covid-19. POMA members should be very cautious in granting mask exemptions in the middle of a pandemic.
District Data
POMA leadership created the POMA District Task Force to assess the structure of the districts within POMA, membership knowledge of the districts, the level of engagement within each district, and to make recommendations to leadership and to the POMA Board of Trustees to improve our districts for the benefit of our members and their patients.
Forthcoming in the coming weeks, will be a short survey addressing these questions. Please take the opportunity to complete the survey. Participation in the survey will earn your district points in the district competition. Be on the lookout!
District Dish
District 10
District 10 members gathered in Blue Bell, PA on Friday, September 10th for comradery and conversation with the POMA president, Joseph Zawisza, DO. After hearing about treating patients with diabetes and kidney disease, Dr. Zawisza updated the members in person and virtually about POMA’s legislative, education, and community work and projects. Members asked Dr. Zawisza questions and provided feedback that will help guide POMA in these pursuits.
Carol Bowes-Lawlor, DO, District 10 Chair, and Donald Sesso, DO, District 10 Alternate Trustee, discussed upcoming local and state events including the upcoming District Go Digital CME event on Monday, September 20th, and the POMA @ Penn State Tailgate event on Saturday, September 25th. These events are free and open to all POMA members - just click on the links to register
If you have questions about any of the POMA pillars or projects, feel free to reach out to the central office. Please monitor your email, the POMA Newsletter, and our social media channels for the next POMA District 10 event. We can’t wait to see you there!
District 7
Wednesday night, over 35 POMA District 7 members and their families gathered to watch the Erie Seawovles defeat the Richmond Flying Squirrels 5 runs to 3. The members viewed the game from the Stadium Club, where they enjoyed a buffet dinner.
Prior to the first pitch, John Kalata, DO, POMA Vice President and District 7 chair discussed the happenings of the osteopathic profession both locally and statewide. He provided legislative and event updates and discussed possible upcoming District 7 events.
These event are free and open to all POMA members. Unfortunately, our records indicate you have not yet renewed your POMA membership for the current year which began July 1, 2021. Your benefits and ability to participate is currently limited and will expire on September 30, 2021. Renew today so you can have stay engaged and involved with POMA and your osteopathic colleagues.
PGYP Recap
PGYP West
On the evening of Thursday, September 16th, the PGYP West Committee met at Cadillac Grill in Pittsburgh for the first meeting of the 2021-22 membership year. The meeting was led by past Committee Chair, and POMA President-elect, Lisa Witherite-Rieg, DO, in the absence of Chair Jessica Masser, DO.
For the first time, POMA offered a virtual opportunity, in addition to the in-person option, to join this meeting. Gene Battistella, DO, POMA Immediate Past President, led an icebreaker where the group learned something interesting about one another. John Kalata, DO, POMA Vice President, led the Osteopathic Minute to discuss current topics within the healthcare field. Dr. Witherite-Rieg shared information about benefits POMA offers to residents as well as opportunities available.
The nest PGYP West Meeting will be held on Tuesday, December 7th at Clarion River Brewing.
by: Samuel Garloff, DO
What is Your Passion?
I love the commercials that end with “what’s in your wallet?”. How about “what is your passion?”. In retirement, mine is simple. Music. Not performance, but brass instruments. Specifically, trumpets, cornets, and flugelhorns. Last year, I had a trumpet made that I designed.
I could describe it to you in excruciating detail and tell you all that went into its creation. Hours of work spanning 4 to 5 years. Hundreds of hours determining its specifications. Countless hours spent emailing and phoning strangers who guided me educated me and provided their insight, all without compensation. I was able to form bonds with complete strangers over a shared love of brass instruments. In many ways, the community of brass instrument repairers and developers is more close-knit than the community of musical performers. Performers need design and repair people, the reverse is not true.
Recently, I reconnected with a woodwind man I hadn’t seen in decades. He has been a guest conductor in the UK, Europe, the Netherlands, and behind the old Iron Curtain. Oh, I forgot, Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center also. I guess you could say he’s been successful.
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View the
newsletter online!
POMA continues to monitor the rapidly changing information surrounding COVID-19. Visit www.poma.org/covid-19 for all of our updates, as well as resources we are finding to be most useful and accurate at this time.
Table of Contents...
- President's Perspective
- Executive Opinion
- Policy Points
- National Physician Suicide Awareness Day
- POMA-ISMIE Affinity Program
- Blanket Exemptions are Void of Medical Judgement
- District Data
- District Dish
- PGYP Recap
- SoFi
- How Are You DOing?
- COVID-19 New Update
- Membership Dues Renewal
- Upcoming District Events
- Upcoming PGYP Events
- Welcome New Members
- Podcast
- JPOMA Survey
- Classified Ads
- Under the DOme
- POMPAC
- Follow POMA on Social Media
- District Competition
- APOMA
Membership Dues Renewal
POMA's current membership year ended June 30 - renew today to remain an active member of your osteopathic community!
Click here to renew today! Your username is
Thank you for your continued commitment and keeping POMA On the Move!
Upcoming District Events
District 4
Day with Railriders
Sunday, September 26
1:05 pm
PNC Field – Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders
Moosic, PA
District 4
Business Meeting & Product Theater
Wednesday, October 6
6:30-8:00 pm
Catch 21 Steak and Seafood
Scranton, PA
District 11
Election & Dinner
Wednesday, September 29
The Brickhouse
Orwigsburg, PA
Gout: New Data on an Old Disease
Monday, September 20
7:00 pm
Hosted by District 14
Tuesday, September 21
6:00 pm
Leeds Restaurant & Lounge
750 Eisenhower Blvd.
Harrisburg, PA
Thursday, September 23
Time: 6:30
Coyote Crossing
800 Spring Mill Ave.
Conshohocken, PA 18428
Welcome New Members!
The following physicians have applied for membership in the POMA. According to Article VI, Section 2 of the POMA bylaws, if no written objection is received within 30 days after publication, the following will be accepted for membership.
Shawn M. Potteiger, DO
266 West Lancaster Avenue
Suite 200
Malvern, PA 19355
Active Member — District 2
Jonathan T. Kinley, DO
690 Hamaker Road
Manheim, PA 17545
Active Member — District 5
Ji H. Min, DO
West Shore Anesthesia
P.O. Box 1050
Camp Hill, PA 17001
Active Member — District 5
Tracey M. Smith, DO
339 N West End Avenue
Lancaster, PA 17603-3217
Active Member — District 5
Anastasia M. Neil, DO
1673 Route 65
Ellwood City, PA 16117
Active Member — District 9
What do you want to hear on POMA's podcast?
Email your ideas to [email protected] with the Subject: Podcast
The Publications Committee wants to hear from you!
Click here to complete the JPOMA Readership Survey - we want to make sure your opinions and suggestions are considered as the Journal evolves to better serve you. Thanks for participating!
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS
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LEGAL AND COMPENSATION ANALYSIS OF PHYSICIAN AGREEMENTS.
Physician Agreements Health Law is a law firm that focuses exclusively on physician contracts, with a particular emphasis on physician employment agreements. Have your agreement reviewed by Dennis Hursh, author of the definitive book on physician employment agreements. https://pahealthlaw.com/
___________________
PRN Medical Space – ready exam rooms for Drs on the go! Five locations in Philadelphia and Bristol. Call 215-669-4001.
PRACTICES WANTED:
Retiring physicians, part-time or full-time practices, call 215-669-4001.
CLASSIFIED AD
RATES
— Per insertion —
Member Ads*: $10 for the first 20 words, $.25 for each additional word. $2 each for special services: all caps or all bold type.
Non-member Ads: (Payment must be received in advance.) $50 for the first 20 words, .50 each additional word. $5 for each special service (listed above).
*Please Note: Member ad rate to be used only by POMA members and only for their medicine- or practice-related ads. Charges for other types of members’ ads will be calculated using the non-member ad rate.
POMA does not take a position of endorsing any organizations, individuals or services whose classified advertisements appear in this publication. The POMA Newsletter reserves the right to select and edit all advertisements submitted.
Under the DOme
Did you catch POMA's advocacy newsletter, Under the DOme?
Under the DOme is a member benefit providing you with an update of the advocacy work POMA is engaged and/or monitoring to ensure DOs and their patients have the best possible opportunity for strong physician-patient relationships and care. POMA is THE organization that represents you as a DO in the state in all areas of advocacy.
We hope you find Under the DOme to be a valuable advocacy tool. Send your feedback to [email protected].
POMPAC is the collective
voice of the osteopathic profession in Pennsylvania.
Send your personal check to POMPAC c/o POMA, 1330 Eisenhower Blvd., Harrisburg, PA 17111, or charge your contribution to your credit card!
PAC contributions are not tax-deductible.
Follow POMA on social media for all the latest news!
  
 
District Competition
Who likes a little friendly competition?
From April 1, 2021 – March 30, 2022 POMA will be hosting a District competition. Districts receive points based on holding events; survey and event participation; members writing in publications (POMA and external); membership retention; and various additional items. Click here for a complete list of challenges.
The winning District will receive a POMA sponsored dinner before POMA HOD 2022, a hefty traveling trophy, special recognition at the POMA Clinical Assembly, and priority seating at the POMA House of Delegates and bragging rights. The leaderboard will be published in POMA’s monthly newsletter.
Contact your District Leadership to share ideas and for more details.
Current Standings as of September 17:
- 1st Place - District 12
- 2nd Place - District 7
- 3rd Place - District 4
Want to help earn your district some points? Submit an article to the newsletter or participate in a POMA survey.
Find out additional ways by contacting you district leadership.
APOMA
APOMA has arranged with the AAOA to share in the proceeds from sales of Brooches on the AAOA Store. The very beautiful brooches are available in many colors.
Visit the store and in the checkout don't forget to put POMA2021 to get FREE SHIPPING and share proceeds with APOMA.
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