Due to the generosity of retired members of the Los Angeles County Medical Association, local residents are enjoying the benefits of organized medicine free of charge. This past summer, LACMA launched the "Sponsor a New Resident Program," which invites retired members to pay for a resident's membership for one year.

"Many residents suffer from being busy and having very little money," says Daniel Wang, MD, a third-year resident in the USC family medicine residency program. "This opportunity gives people like me a way to get involved with organized medicine without the price tag."

Since June 2006, 115 residents from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Keck School of Medicine of USC and Western University of Health Sciences have received free memberships to LACMA and the California Medical Association. The idea was adopted from the Orange County Medical Association, which has a similar sponsorship program.

"First, we sent letters to residency directors at UCLA, USC and Western to find out how many local residents were interested in becoming LACMA members," says Sean O'Brien, member services director. "Then we promoted the program at local residency orientations and LACMA district meetings."

Residents at King-Drew Medical Center and Northridge Hospital Medical Center recently signed up in droves, after LACMA Treasurer Robert Bitonte, MD, JD, spoke at resident meetings in September and November.

"I am excited about participating in the Sponsor a New Resident Program," says Leon Trunk, MD, a retired LACMA member living in Los Angeles. "It is a way to give back to the profession of medicine and the younger generation of physicians. When you're a resident, you don't have a lot of money to join multiple medical organizations. But you want to be a part of something."

A family medicine physician, Dr. Trunk joined LACMA in the 1960s. Although he is retired, he enjoys keeping his hand in medicine, whether he is serving as a volunteer faculty member at UCLA or helping a future family medicine physician, like Dr. Wang.

O'Brien plans to eventually pair retired members with the resident they sponsor, in an effort to encourage networking and mentoring relationships within LACMA.

The LACMA Membership Department will host the Sponsor a New Resident Program again this summer. If you're interested in contributing to the program, please call LACMA at 213/683-9900.

"The next time the program comes around, I will definitely give again," Dr. Trunk adds.