2009 Dr. Blitzer Named President of New Hampshire Medical Society
Orthopedic surgeon Charles Blitzer, MD challenged physicians to improve communication in his Inaugural Address as the 177th President of the New Hampshire Medical Society.
“Tonight, he said, “I want to touch not on the soul of medicine but, rather, on what an orthopaedist might call the ‘skeleton’ of medicine, that upon which we rely to accomplish our healing: communication.”
At the Medical Society’s inauguration event on January 23rd, Dr. Blitzer, of Seacoast Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, encouraged improvement in the individual and collective communication skills of physicians. The advantages of new communication technology don’t outweigh the importance of learning (listening to) a patient’s story and educating patients on the care of their medical problem.
“With clearer communications our patients will better understand their diagnosis and, hopefully, improve their ability to manage their condition,” said Dr. Blitzer. “Improved communication can improve patient satisfaction and patient safety.”
Dr. Blitzer joined the staff at Wentworth-Douglass Hospital in 1984. He received his medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and a member of Orthopaedic Trauma Association’s New England Trauma Study Group.
In accepting the role of President of The New Hampshire Medical Society, the largest physician membership organization in the state, Dr. Blizter said only twenty percent of physicians nationwide are members of the American Medical Association and sixty percent of NH physicians are current members of the NH Medical Society.
“Increased physician participation with these organizations,” Dr. Blitzer said, “improves our ability to communicate to society as a whole the NH Medical Society’s continuing goal since 1791 of working ‘for the betterment of public health.’”
The New Hampshire Medical Society represents the concerns of all medical specialties as well as patient interests through advocacy, education and commonality.
