Physicians and Trainees Gather for Education and Networking at Empowering Physicians Conference

September 28, 2023

For the first time since 2019, the MMA held its annual conference in person and filled the day-long event with a panel discussion on the changing dynamics of physician practice, a workshop on conflict resolution, and talks by Minnesota Health Commissioner Brooke Cunningham, MD, PhD, and bestselling author Abraham Verghese, MD, MACP. 

The event, held September 21 in downtown Minneapolis, attracted more than 160 physicians and physicians-in-training.  

Abraham Vergehese, MD, MACP, took questions from the audience at the Empowering Physicians Conference as President-elect Laurel Ries, MD, looks on.

Cunningham kicked off the conference urging Minnesota physicians to get involved, noting the number of state committees that deal with healthcare issues. She also suggested that physicians reach out to her staff to share their ideas for how they can work together. “Physicians are hugely powerful,” she said. “Show up and speak out. Physicians are highly respected still in 2023.” 

The panel discussion on practice issues included Michael Cumming, MD, MBA, ABWM, who runs a vascular and interventional radiology center in Edina; Rebecca Givan, PhD, an associate professor of labor studies and employment relations at Rutgers University; and Julia Reiland, JD, a partner in Lathrop GPM’s Minneapolis office who advises healthcare organizations on complex business transactions and strategic partnerships. Former MMA President Cindy Firkins Smith, MD, MHCI, FAAD, CentraCare’s vice president for medical education, served as moderator.  

The panel discussed several topics, but often came back to the current issue of physicians unionizing, which the group agreed is born out of “new stresses and strains on physicians,” as Givan put it. “Unionization is more than money,” she said, adding that it’s usually about patient care and physician wellness. She cited nurses’ strikes and how they are often about staffing, not income. 

Local physician, attorney and mediator, Martin Stillman, MD, JD, led a hands-on workshop, leading attendees in an exercise to go through real-life scenarios of resolving conflict. Stillman is a practicing general internist at Hennepin Healthcare System in Minneapolis, where he also serves as the mediation and conflict resolution officer.   

Participants also learned how to prepare for meetings in which conflict resolution is addressed. They learned how to identify common interests behind competing positions to generate solutions that work for everyone, and how to put specific follow-up plans in place that give the best chance for post-resolution success.  

Before Verghese closed out the conference, Will Nicholson, MD, MMA’s outgoing president, welcomed Laurel Ries, MD, as the new president, during a reception. Ries begins her one-year term on October 1. A video of the official hand-off of the presidential medallion can be found here: www.mnmed.org/ac23. 

After signing copies of his books at the reception, Verghese discussed "Humanism, Meaning, and Medicine in the era of AI and Covid,” touching upon a variety of topics from the beginning of diagnosis (following years of going to the barber surgeon, whose every cure involved cutting/bleeding) to the 1891 painting by Luke Fildes called The Doctor. 

He talked about Jaws, the movie he saw when he first came to America, and how it embodied the key to all good stories – conflict. He compared the Great White in the Spielberg movie to the “monster” that all the physicians in the room recently faced – the COVID-19 pandemic. He called healthcare workers the “heroes” of that story. He also encouraged physicians to advocate for the profession and be part of the solution.  

Following his address, Verghese took 30- or 40-minutes' worth of questions then signed more books for attendees. 

Next year’s conference is scheduled for Friday, September 27.