News & Media
Doctor Joseph Nnodim isn't a plastic surgeon, but that hasn't stopped him from giving the Washtenaw County Medical Society a facelift
Several years into his career as a faculty member at the University of Benin Medical School in his home country of Nigeria, Doctor Nnodim decided a sabbatical was in order.
"In the early 90s, a great deal of my professional time was devoted to curricular reform in the basic medical sciences. My focus was on reconfiguring the anatomy program to accommodate the early introduction of clinical experiences," Doctor Nnodim says. "Around that time, I happened to strike up a relationship with Bruce Carlson, MD, chair of the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Michigan, who was going through much the same process in his own department, so he invited me to come spend the year with him."
Doctor Nnodim spent the next year at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor before returning to Nigeria, but it would not be long before he returned. Two short years later, he accepted an offer to join Doctor Carlson on the faculty at the University of Michigan and he hasn't looked back. Instead, Doctor Nnodim spends his energy focusing on what's ahead. And as president of the Washtenaw County Medical Society (WCMS), he is doing his best to ensure the future is a bright one for the patients and physicians of Washtenaw County.
"I have always believed in the value organized medicine provides to both patients and physicians -- it plays a critical role in sustaining our profession and moving the practice of medicine forward," Doctor Nnodim says. "I'm somebody who has always believed and embraced that, but now I want to do my part to ensure my colleagues recognize the kind of value I see, and get involved in organized medicine in one form or another."
It's a challenge many in Doctor Nnodim's position are working to address. Across the country, local medical society membership rolls are being threatened by a growing list of subspecialties -- all competing for the limited amount of time and money physicians can afford to devote to such endeavors. And as the professional landscape shifts away from small, private practice groups toward large health care organizations, employed physicians -- especially younger ones -- have expressed less need to seek out forums for professional collaboration.
Yet Doctor Nnodim is undaunted. In fact, just the opposite. Reinvigorating the WCMS with a new energy will pay dividends for the community long after he finishes his term as president. And for someone who has always been drawn to serve and tend to the needs of others, that's an exciting proposition.
"Organized medicine will always be an important vehicle -- it sustains our profession and it is a vital in the unceasing effort to successfully pass knowledge from one generation on to the next," Doctor Nnodim says. "That value is still there. We just need to change the way we demonstrate that, and it starts with changing how we connect and communicate."
For Doctor Nnodim and the leadership at the WCMS, that means streamlining and simplifying. Case in point, the revised mission statement of Washtenaw County Medical Society is now as easy as the A, B, C's.
"We have realigned our organizational mission to focus on the 'A, B, C's' of medicine -- Activism, Balance, and Connection," Doctor Nnodim says. "Focusing exclusively on these core tenets and adjusting the way we speak about them will help a great deal in making the Washtenaw County Medical Society more relevant to the needs of our membership and prospective members as well."
And it goes beyond the mission statement. All of WCMS' messaging is being revitalized.
"Even little things like changing the name of our traditional quarterly 'General Sessions' to 'MedConnects' is making a difference," Doctor Nnodim says. "Changes like this are proving to be a much cleaner way for our members to realize what our goals have been and how they're being achieved." For Doctor Nnodim, the changes all boil down to his desire to serve his patients, his colleagues and his community.
"Everyone in medicine is pulled in so many directions throughout their careers, but advocacy is an area that isn't always recognized, and it should be, because there's so much potential for good to come out of it. And if I can help shine a light and build and strengthen our community and voice, then I'll be pleased with what I've accomplished here."