Welcome to WCMS!

Wake County Medical Society is an organization established in order to enable physicians and other friends of the profession to support projects vitally affecting scientific medicine and public health.

The North Carolina Medical Society provides administrative support for the Wake County Medical Society; should you have any membership questions, please email wakemedsoc@ncmedsoc.org or telephone (800) 722-1350 or (919) 833-3836 and ask for the Member Services department.

Be sure to join our Facebook group!

 

Note from the President

Dear Wake County Colleague,

It has been an exciting year for the Wake County Medical Society (WCMS)!  We have several activities coming up that I urge you to place on your calendar now, before the start of another busy work week.

Thursday, September 14, 12 noon

WCMS members are invited to attend a virtual program with Betsy Gall, author of discussing the book “The Illusion of the Perfect Profession,” about the silent epidemic of physician suicide, sponsored by the WCMS Alliance. To participate, register here.

Saturday, September 16, 2023, 8:30am

The Triangle Indian Physicians Society invites WCMS members to attend their annual meeting and CME Symposium at The Andrews Center at WakeMed.  Topics include:

• Cardiovascular risk in Diabetes & Hypertension: Thomas O’Connell, MD, FACE
• Advances in treatment of Bi-polar disorder: Haresh Tharwani, MD, DFAPA
• Stimulant and Non-stimulant therapies in ADHD: Richard Weisler, MD
• Updates and Management of NASH: Alfred S Barritt IV, MD
• Early diagnosis of lung cancer and evaluation of pulmonary nodules: Hiren Mehta, MD

Tuesday, September 19, 2023 – Executive Council @ NCMS, 6:30PM

At this meeting, we will review meeting minutes, financials, review a budget for 2024, and identify a slate of officers for 2024. Please email me if you have any additional agenda items or would like to learn more about joining our Leadership Team.

Saturday, September 23, 2023 – Screening of “Someone Else’s Shoes,” 7:30pm

WCMS members and the community are invited to the premiere screening of “Someone Else’s Shoes,” Dr. Cheryl Walker-McGill’s documentary highlighting St. Agnes Hospital and African American Healthcare Trailblazers from North Carolina. Following the short film, the program will include a Q&A with Dr. Walker-McGill and a presentation about plans to rebuild the St. Agnes site as a health education center.

The program will take place at Saint Augustine’s University, Seby B. Jones Auditorium, 1315 Oakwood Avenue, Raleigh NC 27610. Doors open at 7pm; the program begins at 7:30.

Tuesday, October 17, 2023 – ANNUAL MEETING @ NCMS, Dinner 6-7pm; Program begins at 7pm

This meeting will be considered as our Annual Meeting, as we will vote on the updated bylaws and conduct elections.  Our guest speaker is Peter Morris, MD, former WCMS Board Member and Executive Director of Urban Ministries of Wake County. The agenda will include a legislative update from the NC Medical Society.

Sunday, November 19, 2023 – General Membership Event, President Thomas Jefferson, as presented by Bill Barker, 2pm, Haywood Hall

Veteran historical actor-interpreter Bill Barker is widely recognized as the nation’s foremost interpreter of Thomas Jefferson. Now, after portraying Thomas Jefferson at Colonial Williamsburg for the last 26 years, Barker has joined the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello.

The WCMS is excited to welcome him to Raleigh to Haywood Hall House and Gardens, a historic home in downtown Raleigh. Constructed by John Haywood and completed in 1799, Haywood Hall is a rare survivor of Raleigh's Federal period. It was the first house to be built inside Raleigh’s city limits. Today, Haywood Hall is the oldest house on its original foundation within the original city limits of Raleigh. Only four generations of Haywoods occupied this house continuously until 1977, which includes generations of physicians.

Mr. Barker will visit this historic home fittingly as President Thomas Jefferson.  Combining the tools of theater with rigorous historical scholarship, his approach explores Jefferson’s life and times, and how it relates to our world today. Barker has performed as Jefferson around the country and around the world, at sites including the White House, the U.S. Capitol, the Palace of Versailles, and more. He has been featured as Jefferson in numerous publications including Time, People, and Southern Living, and has appeared as Jefferson on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, C-SPAN and Comedy Central’s Colbert Report.  For a sneak preview, click here:  Thomas Jefferson Interpreter Bill Barker at Monticello - YouTube

This program is appropriate for ages 12 and up, so we hope to see WCMS families attend and enjoy.

Monday, December 4, 2023 – 120^th Anniversary Celebration, NC Executive Mansion, 6pm

WCMS will celebrate its 120^th anniversary at the Governor’s Residence. The event is 6-8pm, with remarks at 7pm, which will include installation of new officers.  Attendance is by invitation and confirmed RSVP only. WCMS members will receive invitations by email and by mail starting October 1.

This will certainly be a festive way to cap off our busy year! Thank you for making it robust, productive, and satisfying.  More details to come.  In the meantime, your Executive Council is busy updating our bylaws and recruiting officers for 2024.  I encourage you to reach out if you have interest in joining our Executive Council.

In an earlier message to members, I said that medical leadership, your leadership, is still vital to the well-being of our patients as well as our clinicians. We must support and encourage one another. Our way back will require time, effort, and patience.  I am so pleased to be able to say that the WCMS is a gateway to this much needed collegiality. Thank you for your support.

If you have questions about any of these events or the WCMS in general, please call our staff (located at the NC Medical Society) at 919-833-3836 or send an email to wakemedsoc@ncmedsoc.org for details. 

I look forward to getting to know you as a Wake County colleague.

Ted

Ted Kunstling, MD, FCCP
President, Wake County Medical Society
Sept. 2023