if you are not sitting at the table, you are often on the menu. Today’s medical students and residents will soon inherit tremendous responsibility. They can choose to simply work within the healthcare system, or they can choose to help shape it. That transformation begins when experienced physicians invest in them through mentorship, leadership opportunities, and meaningful engagement. Future physicians must understand that our society is built on service. It is not about titles or résumés. It is about standing up for our patients, supporting our colleagues, and ensuring that the practice of medicine continues to evolve in ways that improve health for everyone. The future of medicine depends on physicians who are willing to lead, advocate, and serve. That future begins with today’s medical students and residents—and with our commitment to recruit them, mentor them, and empower them to become the leaders our profession and our patients will need. This commitment to our future is going to include most of us stepping out of our comfort zone to bridge a generational gap that now includes technology and new ways to communicate. Love it or hate it, it’s here and we’re going to need to navigate their world. Some of this afternoon’s CME presentations are going to engage you in what this actually means. PHYSICIAN BURNOUT Championship teams always find a way to keep their key players in the game and around the football. Pressure is a privilege bestowed upon us by our station in life. Our profession has always accepted sacrifice. But sacrifice and self-destruction are not the same thing. Taking care of physicians is not selfish. It is essential to taking care of patients. Last year in his remarks, Dr. Trawick shared how LSMS played a role in creating The Physicians Foundation “to address with urgency the immediate and ongoing impediments to physicians’ wellbeing.” I emphasize and agree with his gratitude that our profession has dedicated time and energy to removing the stigmas associated with our peers asking for help. He shared a personal story about the death of his brother-in-law, but every single one of us knows a physician who has quietly wondered how much longer they can continue. Not because they have lost their love for medicine—but
because medicine has become harder to practice. You still care deeply. You simply carry more weight than ever before. My commitment is that physician well-being will not be an afterthought during my presidency. Caring for physicians is not separate from caring for patients. It is one of the most important ways we protect our patients. Every physician lost represents not only a personal tragedy but also the loss of years of knowledge, experience, and compassion. Preventing physician burnout is not about making medicine easier. It is about making medicine sustainable. It is about protecting the people who devote their lives to protecting ours. THE CHANGING GAME Lastly, the game of football is changing. The impact of NIL, the transfer portal, and the growing importance of roster management have fundamentally altered the way coaches build and lead teams. Medicine is experiencing a similar transformation. Private equity, the corporatization of healthcare, and the consolidation of large hospital systems are reshaping the environment in which physicians practice. It’s tempting to measure success by finite milestones: increasing membership, winning legislative battles, or balancing this year’s budget. Those accomplishments matter. They have defined players, established rules, and measurable outcomes. Someone wins, and someone loses. But medicine is not a finite game. Every physician in this room belongs to a profession that existed long before we arrived and will continue long after we retire. The organizations we serve are more than institutions—they are stewards of a profession entrusted to care for patients across generations. Every generation of physicians has faced challenges that felt unprecedented. There have been battles over reimbursement, scope of practice, malpractice reform, physician autonomy, public trust, workforce shortages, technological disruption, pandemics, and rapidly changing healthcare systems. And yet the profession has endured. Not because anyone won a final victory, but because
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