On Saturday, February 5, 2011, seventeen physician members of the NCMS Leadership College Class of 2011 met for their Winter Session at the North Carolina Medical Society office in Raleigh. The Winter Session is an opportunity for Leadership Scholars to get to know one another, discuss “hot-button” topics that affect their patients and their practices and learn more about how to serve as leaders in their professional and personal communities. The Co-Chair of the NCMS Leadership College program, Elizabeth P. Kanof, MD, led the day-long program.

Session speakers included: Sam Weir, MD, of the Department of Family Medicine at UNC School of Medicine, spoke on Strengthening and Utilizing Leadership Skills; Pam Silberman, JD, DRPH, of the North Carolina Institute of Medicine, gave an update on Healthcare Reform; Derek Prentice, MD, Consulting Medical Director of State Health Plan, spoke on Quality Processes; Steve Cline, DDS, MPH, Deputy Director of the N.C. Division of Public Health and N.C. Assistant Secretary for Health Information Technology, spoke on HIT; and Chip Baggett, NCMS Director of Legislative Relations, gave a Legislative update and spoke about advocacy and the role of physicians in the legislative process. A lunch-time roundtable on the topic of Organized Medicine was led by Jugta Kahai, MD, Eugenie Komives, MD and program Co-Chair, Mike Brennan, MD.

The next meeting of the NCMS College Leadership Scholars will take place over the weekend of May 13-15, 2011 in Chapel Hill.

If you are interested in applying to become a part of the 2012 NCMS Leadership College class or would like to nominate someone, please contact Richard W. Skinner, [email protected], or find additional information on the program at: www.ncmsleadershipcollege.org.