National Auxiliary to Alumni Association

As is usual, your new Board began its work even before the “beginning of our year”. We have chosen as the theme for this year “The Medical Family: Surviving and Thriving”.

Service is at the center of the medical life, and that’s where we want to keep it. But healthy people serve more joyfully, and healthy families can demonstrate something wonderful to the world. It is our hope that the programs we have planned, the books and readings we suggest, and the Medical Marriage seminar--centerpiece of our APC program--will help all of us in our effort, not just to survive, but to thrive!

“Surely you will quote this proverb to me, ‘Physician, heal yourself!” * Spoken by an exasperated internist to his overweight, chain-smoking patient? No, you have probably recognized those as the words of Jesus to His skeptical hometown acquaintances. All too often an insightful physician (or his/her spouse) recognizes that “healing” of some kind is exactly what they and their families need. We’re not completely dysfunctional, but there’s something off-kilter, a looming malaise that we don’t name because we fear to give it reality. This is not the life we envisioned. We have kept hoping that our home atmosphere would improve “just as soon as (school, residency, fellowship, this call schedule, [your choice]) was finished.” It didn’t.

I’m a third-generation member of a four-generation medical family, which means that this privileged, sacrificial, envied, fascinating, pressured, amazing (medicine-saturated) reality is all I know. My coping mechanisms have often failed because I did not understand what was happening. That may be your story, too.

If so, please follow your Auxiliary closely through this year, as we all learn to laugh more, share our problems (and our solutions), and spend more time in the environment that can soothe as well as engross us: nature. Look for descriptions of the programs we have planned for the year, in this issue. We will hope to finish the year

Sharan Bennett
President

National Auxiliary to Alumni Association