PROFESSIONHands-on leadership: A new president takes the helm of the AMAWilliam G. Plested III, MD, wants to guide physicians through liability reform, a Medicare pay fix and other pressing physician and patient issues.By Damon Adams, amednews staff. June 26, 2006. Since he was a boy, William G. Plested III, MD, has loved working with his hands. He and his father tinkered with woodwork in the basement of their Wichita, Kan., home. One of the pine tables Dr. Plested crafted now graces his second home near Bayfield, Colo., a mountain oasis outside Durango in southwestern Colorado. He's been known to pop the hood of his 1959 Chevy Impala convertible and fiddle with the engine. Many a time he's gutted and cooked fish caught from nearby ponds or the Los Pinos River, which flows just a few steps from the wooden deck on the back of his house. And for more than three decades, his hands were the tools of his trade as a thoracic and cardiovascular surgeon in Southern California. "I always worked with my hands with my dad. I knew I wanted to do something [professionally] with my hands," Dr. Plested said. He also always knew that something involved being a doctor. "I just never considered anything else," said Dr. Plested, 70. He plans to use a hands-on approach as president of the American Medical Association, a position he took on this month. He'll promote the AMA's Health Care Advocacy Agenda, which focuses on issues such as medical liability reform, patient safety and Medicare physician payment reform. "In this day and age, there are so many challenges in medicine," he said. Being active and tackling challenges such as the AMA presidency suit Dr. Plested's personality, family and friends said. [...]Full text of American Medical News content is available to AMA members and paid subscribers.
Copyright 2006 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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