It wasn’t until this year, as a second-year medical student apprenticing with a primary care physician, that I finally understood why my father repeatedly emphasized safety and healthy behaviors when I was a child.
My father has been an emergency medicine physician assistant in Dover-Foxcroft for over 23 years, and he has seized every opportunity to share his passion for preventive medicine with his family of five. I realize now that most of our “father-son talks,” some wildly uncomfortable, were because he believes primary care is paramount to long-term health.
For example, I received repeated gun safety discussions before supervised backyard target practice. My father described patients with brain injuries to reinforce his insistence that we wear helmets when biking, snowmobiling and playing hockey. His “scare it straight” approach to cigarette use was bringing home a blackened human lung — it worked. Most memorable were his ever-well-timed sex-ed and condom-use discussions.
However, I am keenly aware that not all parents are teaching and enforcing these common preventive health measures.
For more than 143 years, physicians and patients have trusted health recommendations from the U.S. Surgeon General. The “nation’s top doctor” is the most impactful voice in public health.
Yet America is in the midst of a public health crisis. Despite continued efforts, childhood obesity has doubled in the past 30 years, and one in four Americans dies of heart disease. In Maine, about 60 percent of adults are overweight; we are the most obese state in New England; and the percentage of Mainers seeking treatment for prescription drug abuse is higher than in any other state.
Maine and the nation are desperate for a real leader in public health, a “next generation” surgeon general. Luckily, one has been nominated.
The current nominee is Dr. Vivek Murthy, an exceptionally qualified doctor and entrepreneur. He is a graduate of Harvard University and Yale Medical School, and his nomination is endorsed by nearly every major medical organization in the country, which together represent more than half a million physicians nationwide.
I met Murthy through his colleagues at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, one of America’s top medical centers. All have borne witness to his gifts as an empathetic doctor and passionate public health educator.
While all Americans stand to benefit from his compassion and expertise, Maine stands to benefit most from his vision, ingenuity and leadership. In the last 20 years he has built a successful software technology company, created an HIV and AIDS program for thousands of children, and co-founded Doctors for America, a national medical organization of doctors and medical students. His advocacy work with Doctors for America is especially important in states such as Maine, where patients often forego care due to costly medical bills.
Despite his widespread support from the medical community, Murthy’s nomination is not unanimously endorsed. Following the Sandy Hook school shooting — and in line with the American Medical Association and others — he urged Congress to repeal laws forbidding doctor-patient discussions about gun safety. His letter recently became the attention of special interest groups who aim to influence his confirmation by the Senate.
In an editorial strongly endorsing Murthy, The New England Journal of Medicine was appalled that special interests aim to affect health policy. The editorial reminded readers, “the surgeon general has no authority over firearm regulation” and that his principal focus is on obesity prevention.
NEJM is the foremost authority in medicine, and its endorsement typifies physician support for Murthy. More importantly it reveals excitement for a nominee who has accomplished much in his life. He is a gifted leader experienced in the policy arena, as well as an entrepreneur with a depth of technology experience. This makes him the first surgeon general equipped to finally tackle the complex problem of obesity.
As a medical student I see this as a critical moment to change the health trajectory of Maine and the nation. We need to inspire faith-based leaders, principals, and coaches to implement measures that health professionals like my father and Murthy do. They understand how these measures affect the health of their patients.
Murthy is an exceptional choice for surgeon general. But just to be sure I asked my proud gun-owning father his opinion about the potential leading physician voice in America. It came as no surprise that, like the overwhelming majority of American physicians, my father stands with Murthy.
Nick Smith was raised in Dover-Foxcroft and has a B.A. in Neuroscience from Bowdoin College. He is a second-year student at Boston University School of Medicine and can be reached at smithjn@bu.edu.