The holiday season is officially here along with all of the chaos and joy that it brings. This is a wonderful time to gather with family and friends to exchange gifts, warm wishes, and cheer. As FMA Alliance President, I was invited to participate in many of your County Alliance holiday parties this season, and it leaves me with a feeling of warmth when I reflect on all of the generosity that our members shared with their Florida communities.

A few of the great organizations in Florida who received donations in the spirit of holiday giving are: Boys and Girls Clubs of Lee County, Collier County’s Teenagers as Parents Program (TAPP), Sarasota County’s Children First, and Orange County’s Pine Hills Performing Arts Center. Our County Alliances are truly pillars in our Florida communities throughout the year by providing health education, medical scholarships, and support and fellowship to our fellow physicians and spouses.

We will start off 2017 on a healthy note with our FMAA Walk for Wellness. The FMA Alliance is excited to see so many of our County Alliances participating in this worthwhile and fun activity. We are proud to be offering walkers a collectible t-shirt featuring our colorful Walk for Wellness logo, which was designed by our own talented member, Juli Bobman.

The FMAA’s Legislation Committee is hard at work preparing for the 2017 session. We will be organizing and educating our members across Florida so that they can meet with and educate their legislators on pro-medicine bills that enable our physicians to continue to practice medicine in a rewarding and friendly environment and offer the best possible care to their patients.

The members of the FMAA are the family of medicine, and I am proud to be a member of this family. We will continue to support each other and our communities in the coming year. Through more collaboration with the FMA, FMA PAC, and our county medical societies, we will have a stronger voice in medicine.  Just like any family, we are stronger together than we are apart.

From the FMA Alliance family to your family, I wish you a Happy Holiday and a Happy New Year.

Angela Abrams
FMA Alliance President 2016-2017