SAFCS 2003-2004 PRESIDENTIAL LETTER KIMBERLY A. SLAWINSKI, Col, USAF, MC, SFS “As the war against terrorism continues, an increasing number of the Society’s membership adds time in the desert to their resume of locations in the military”. Col Pete Muskat opened his presidential letter last year with that line and by golly, it rings even truer today. Since the beginning of this year, even more of our members have spent time in another desert, fighting the war against the unpredictable leader of a country that has used weapons of mass destruction. Our forces, and in particular, our medics, again demonstrated resoundingly, that there is no finer military and medical service in the world. One of the wounded American combatants stated it so succinctly and I will paraphrase his words, “I bust mine because I know you bust yours to save it”. I write to you from another place where a neighboring country has an unpredictable leader with ballistic missiles capable of carrying chemical, biological and now, probably nuclear weapons. As I flew along the DMZ earlier this week, I had my first glimpse of North Korea on one of the few clear days since I arrived. It is sobering to realize this is a war that never really ended, it’s an armistice that has survived for almost as long as our organization - over 50 years now. Hopefully, tensions will not escalate past the stepped-up rhetoric and shots that were exchanged across the DMZ just a few weeks ago. For this year, I’m at Kunsan Air Base, Republic of Korea, where there is a clinic that would rapidly become a large CP-EMEDS should circumstances dictate. I’m not getting any surgery time except minors, but I am very, very proficient at wearing a gas mask and flak gear. The Society has enjoyed an upswing in support and resources over the past few years only to face new challenges now. The number of surgical specialists is expected to decline over the next few years not just in the military, but also as a whole. New regulations will affect the ability of our sponsors to contribute to our annual meeting. However, on the positive side, the benchmark performance of EMEDS in OEF and OIF has earned a renewed appreciation of what the AFMS, and in particular, surgical services, bring to the fight. We’ve shown what we can do, now it is time to drive home what is needed to keep the pointy end of surgery sharp for that “bad day”. Requirements drive resorting. We have set required standards for currency in surgery, just as pilots have standards for currency to fly and fight. These standards need to be refined by feedback and validated, then we can use them to demand a patient population to support that clinical load and surgical capability. Fortunately, TRICARE for Life became a reality, re-instituting our major surgical patient population, the over-65 retirees. Unfortunately, we haven’t had the resources returned to implement that care in-house. This Catch-22 may well drive to fruition out-of-the-box thinking such as civilian partnerships of which we have barely scratched the surface. Everyone should make the extra effort to code accurately to really document our workload just as they do in the civilian world. On the outside, they don’t get reimbursed if they don’t document evaluation and treatment. In the military we won’t get resources without quantifying and qualifying our labor. This just goes to show, the only front isn’t the tip of the blade in the OR or even the FEBA in a conflict. The battle for full scope of care must be addressed at the MTF, MAJCOM and Air Staff level in parallel. The Society is another forum to speak your mind and exchange ideas about how to tackle these issues. Under Gen Carlton’s leadership, surgery got a running restart, now it’s up to us to keep up the momentum. Get involved and voice your concerns constructively. Col Muskat led the Society literally from the front in the finest fashion. Lt Cols Grissom and Perry put together a fabulous program to match the Society’s laudable 50th anniversary in the birthplace of our Society, San Antonio. This next April 4-8, please join your colleagues and absolutely bring along your spouses to my favorite city, San Francisco for the 51st meeting of the Society in the Hyatt at none other than Fisherman’s Wharf. Drs Mark Sherrer and Jon Perlstein from Travis AFB are designing a very exciting meeting with the theme “Surgery on the Front Lines” and the delights of the Bay area in contrast. As always, huge thanks every day to Rose, who is the masterful wrangler of this herd of cats. I really hope it stays quiet here so I can join you all too. KIMBERLY A. SLAWINSKI, Col, USAF, MC, SFS President, Society of Air Force Clinical Surgeons 2003-2004 P.S. Don’t forget to pay your dues now – Rose, my check is in the mail! 2008-2009 SAFCS President's Message 2006-2008 SAFCS President's Message 2003-2004 SAFCS President's Message 2002-2003 SAFCS President's Message 2001-2002 SAFCS President's Message 2000-2001 SAFCS President's Message 2006-2008 SAFCS President's Message 2004-2006 SAFCS President's Message 2002-2003 SAFCS President's Message 2001-2002 SAFCS President's Message 2000-2001 SAFCS President's Message