A lifetime of leadership in the house of medicine
Ask the Expert
By Georgia Tuttle, MD, FAAD, June 1, 2023
In this special edition of Ask the Expert, DermWorld asked Georgia Tuttle, MD, FAAD, to discuss her involvement in medical leadership, including her service on the AMA Board of Trustees.
I opened my solo practice and excitedly wound my way through state licensing and enrollment into Medicare while obtaining the myriad of ID numbers, including DEA and IRS. The complexity of the process and the interdependency of so many levels of government, business, and finance was exciting to navigate…for the first time.
My journey into health care policy and politics started immediately after I received a phone call from a tattoo artist asking what laser he should buy to remove unwanted tattoos. I immediately called my state medical society, who helped me propose legislation and testify at the statehouse, where laser surgery was added to the definition of the “practice of medicine” in New Hampshire state statute.
During these years, I dutifully attend every AAD Annual Meeting. The educational opportunities were endless, but I always found myself gravitating to the business session, where individual dermatologists advocated for issues about which they were passionate. I caught a fever there. I will never forget the dermatologist who urged the Academy to support the use of health savings accounts (HSAs) as an option for health insurance. He was booed by some but more than a decade later, HSAs became an important part of the solution to help the self-employed — myself included — afford health insurance coverage.
Leaders in medicine
Read more DermWorld interviews with dermatologists in leadership roles in Leaders in medicine – Part 1 and Leaders in medicine – Part 2.
During that same time, I was asked to run for the alternate delegate position in the AMA House of Delegates (HOD) where I would represent the physicians of my state! At one of my first AMA meetings, I discovered the AMA Dermatology Section Council chaired by the late Dr. Beverly Sanders. Though I was not representing a dermatology group at the AMA, I was welcomed into the fold. As I recall, that section council was staffed by the AAD, and I got to know a number of staff members who provided support when I needed information. I heard fellow dermatologists eloquently testify before committees and the full House at the AMA. Their passion, compassion, and logic produced convincing victories. The AAD and its staff provided the information and support those physicians used to improve care for patients and to help their colleagues practice. I saw one AAD policy after another adopted into AMA policy where it trickled down to my daily office life. I knew I wanted to do this kind of work for as long as I could.
As I made this journey, each step seemed logical and straightforward because I made each one out of interest, curiosity, and passion — never for power or prestige. I have had physicians approach me to ask what leadership position they should seek? The advice I give them: ask yourself what you want to change or make better, what will fuel your soul and what will make you want to continue to fight what could be a years- or decades-long battle? That is the course to pursue.
Physician leadership does not always have to be in the health care field. I looked outside my office and saw my patient’s non-health related issues: property taxes, housing, and education to name but a few. I had my epiphany on this idea after reading David McCollough’s book John Adams. My ancestors had crossed the North Atlantic Ocean and had fought in the American Revolution. What had I done? And so, while practicing and working with AAD and AMA, I ran for local public office. I learned a lot about things I never thought I would find interesting such as differences in sewer pipe diameter, storm water runoff management, wetland setback zones to prevent flooding, and many more! This experience opened the scope of leadership challenges and helped me to better understand what is required to navigate even small changes at a local, state or national level.
During AMA meetings, I found myself gravitating toward certain topics in reference committees where I was able to go to the microphone and to speak if I had something constructive to add. On a few occasions, colleagues took me aside and complimented what I did well or made small suggestions of what I might do differently to win my point. At the AMA, opportunities opened for me to run for a Council and ultimately to run for the AMA Board of Trustees where I had the privilege to work with and to watch California dermatologist Jack Resneck Jr., MD, FAAD, become president of the AMA!
AADA advocacy priorities
Read more about the AADA’s advocacy priorities.
I believe that dermatologists are trained and uniquely skilled to navigate complex problem solving. Perhaps we are born that way and so we choose dermatology, or perhaps dermatology training teaches and fine tunes those skills. Whichever the case, the dermatologists representing the AAD at the AMA have proven to be knowledgeable and uniquely skilled at presenting complex issues to non-dermatologist colleagues in a way that raises the profile of our medical and surgical specialty to the forefront. The breadth of our training in the skin signs of internal disease, combined with our three-dimensional thought process as we examine every lesion or skin finding, makes us uniquely skilled at seeing “the whole” at a glance while rapidly and simultaneously sorting through the multiple solutions available. The more dermatologists step up to lead, the greater the respect our colleagues will have for our complex, though sometimes minimized, specialty.
Throughout my journey, I always had the help of the AAD and the Dermatology Section Council. When the dues statements arrive in the mail, I happily write the check that allows me the privilege of remaining a member of my state medical society, the American Academy of Dermatology, and the American Medical Association, of which dermatology members are an integral part. My dermatology residency mentor taught me well.
Georgia Tuttle, MD, FAAD, is a dermatologist in Lebanon, New Hampshire.
