Although I am president of the Orange County Medical Association, I question whether it is really my medical association. Or is it our medical association? What exactly is a medical association?

A medical association is a body whose members are medical doctors. If it is my medical association, it should do what I want to be done. If it is our medical association, it should meet the needs of a majority of its members. In other words, it should seek consensus to best address its members' interests.

At times, consensus seems elusive due to the various modes of practice in our profession. There are large group practices, small group practices, solo practices, university-affiliated group practices, research physicians, residents and starry-eyed medical students. Each group has its own priorities. Each group has its own thoughts on how the medical association should influence the practice of medicine.

Yet, in order to make positive change in the profession, physicians need to have one loud and clear voice. This can only happen if all concerned doctors join the association, play an active role in bringing important issues to the table, actively debate the issues, and come to a consensus.

Despite our apparent differences, we must not lose sight of the ample common ground we share. Most of us became physicians because we truly wanted to. As highly intelligent people, we had other professional choices available to us, but none that we liked as much. We sacrificed leisure activities to spend hours reading, doing research and perfecting clinical activities to accomplish our goals. We share a core value: We are moved to help people in need.

That's where medical associations come in. They help us achieve that goal by bridging the gap between patients' needs and doctors' needs. We can spend numerous hours learning about a particular disease and helping a patient with a health problem. However, if the system is such that there are barriers in the delivery of care, then we fail in our profession. So we need a strong medical association that grasps the needs of both patients and doctors.

When I speak with doctors in our community, they are often preoccupied with their daily routines. They feel that they do not have enough time to get involved with issues outside their practices. However, those outside forces, including bad legislative decisions and poor insurance company practices, directly influence what happens inside physicians' offices--sooner rather than later.

A strong association can improve the environment so that we can all practice medicine in an ideal way.

I humbly request OCMA members to recruit as many doctors as possible to join our medical association. Help it become a strong and influential body so it can make the changes we want.