A note from the WPS chair
October 2024
From WPS Chair Elisa Choi, MD
WPS policymaking update
Thank you to all the volunteers who signed up to join the WPS Handbook Review Committee! We received a great deal of interest, and the various handbook review committees (with a separate committee to match up with each reference committee for I-24), led by their respective appointed chairs, will be reviewing the I-24 resolutions and making recommendations for the formal WPS stance on those resolutions. Members of these handbook review committees will also be representing our WPS during the online, and in-person, reference committee testimony for I-24. Visit the WPS policymaking webpage.
Upcoming deadlines and dates
Nov. 8, 2024
The WPS business and assembly meeting will take place on this day, starting at 3 p.m. Eastern. Final location is TBD. Please stay tuned for more details about time, but “save the date,” and we look forward to seeing you there, for I-24!
Member of the month profile
In the ongoing series of profiling a WPS “member of the month,” and particularly apropos of Hispanic Heritage Month, in this month’s WPS Members and News Highlights I want to profile the vice chair of the Minority Affairs Section (MAS), Theresa Rohr-Kirchgraber, MD.
A California native, first-generation student and an underrepresented in medicine (UiM) professor of medicine, Dr. Rohr-Kirchgraber is passionate about the need for increased diversity in health care. Developing programs and mentoring, she strives to assist physicians and others to find satisfaction in their careers.
Teaching to ensure our future physicians have a background in clinical medicine and how social determinants affect health and well-being, her clinical expertise is in general medicine. She was the first Hispanic physician to lead the American Medical Women’s Association.
Our WPS is particularly grateful to Dr. Rohr-Kirchgraber for her past (former WPS vice chair) and ongoing engagement with our WPS, and we look forward to collaborations in the future, as she currently holds a leadership role for the Minority Affairs Section.
For more background on Dr. Rohr-Kirchgraber, see this interview from 2023.
I will be continuing these member of the month profiles for future updates, spotlighting notable members from our WPS. Please email our section at [email protected] with suggestions for WPS members you would want to see profiled.
Closing thoughts
The month of October is a recognition month for various issues of interest to our WPS.
- Breast Cancer Awareness Month
- Domestic Violence Awareness Month
- Filipino American History Month
- Hispanic Heritage Month
As our WPS Governing Council continues to strive for the 3 Cs (collaborations, connections, community) this year, I want to highlight an education session at I-24, which is a joint collaboration between WPS and SPS (Senior Physicians Section). This CME education event will take place on Friday, Nov. 8, from 2-3 p.m. Eastern. This will be an in-person panel discussion, with the preliminary title/topic of “Menopause and Cardiovascular Disease: Understanding Risks and Health Disparities.”
Also, the WPS has been collaborating with the MAS on a potential virtual program for later in October 2024, on the topic of maternal mortality/morbidity. More details to come.
Check our WPS GroupMe chat for more information and details about future and I-24 programs!
Contact and connect with the WPS
Please consider staying connected to the WPS throughout the year via the GroupMe chat. Email the WPS at [email protected] to request to join the WPS GroupMe chat. There are online conversations about advocacy, books/podcasts/articles/current events, announcements and updates, and “social” conversations.
You can reach out and contact the WPS, with your inquiries, feedback, comments and communications at the general email: [email protected]. We are looking forward to hearing from you. Thank you to all of WPS for what you do every day, for your patients and our profession!
Have a wonderful rest of October!
