I hope all of you had a fun summer full of great memories. Summer always seems to be over in the blink of an eye. As a kid, I always thought that was just because school was out. Turns out, summers seem to be over even faster as an adult!

Similarly, business is whisking along for the Washoe County Medical Society. Over the past few months, Mary Ann McCauley has created an incredible strategic plan with great input from our WCMS members, which sets our goals for the next few years. She also has been exploring ways WCMS can collaborate with other local organizations to improve the health of our community.

As a great example, WCMS will partner with Immunize Nevada, Renown, and the University of Nevada Reno School of Medicine to promote a fascinating vaccine documentary which will be shown for medical students, residents and undergraduate health sciences students at UNR (WCMS members are also invited!). Every time I mention I am the current WCMS President to someone in the community, I inevitably hear praise for Mary Ann and the energy she brings to WCMS.

Another example of “good energy” was the recent turn out of WCMS delegates for the Nevada State Medical Association annual meeting.

I want to thank all the delegates for taking time away from their families and work on a precious weekend to share their expertise. Every year, I walk away from the NSMA meeting having learned something from my colleagues and this year was no different. We had several thoughtful resolutions that addressed issues such as obesity, domestic abuse, “stop the bleed” education, patient care surveys, and maintenance of certification. If you haven’t had a chance to see the final versions of the resolutions, check them out on the NSMA website.

This year’s NSMA meeting was also notable for our own Dr. Steven Parker being sworn in as NSMA president. All of us at WCMS are looking forward to working with Dr. Parker during his tenure and are excited about fixing some of the database and website problems we have in common over the next few months.

Finally, one other bit of good news. After numerous meetings and some incredible work from Catherine O’Mara, the Nevada Board of Pharmacy recently agreed to a new regulation allowing medical assistants and other delegated agents to initiate electronic prescriptions for medications under the supervision of a physician. While there is still one small hurdle to go before it’s official, we were excited to see this change. WCMS and NSMA will work with practices to make sure that medical assistants are properly trained on e-prescribing and will collaborate with the Board of Pharmacy on the content of this training.

Now that fall is here, I hope you enjoy the cooler temps, changing colors, and getting outside in the mountains for this incredible time of year.