From the President's Desk
Life Long Learning
 Back
to school notices remind us at this time of the year that
learning is lifelong. After reading a letter in a recent
issue of Womans Day that suggested that a diary
be used to record one new thing you learn each day, I began
to think about the concept of daily learning. Learning something
new each day keeps us fresh and involved in what we are
doing. It challenges us to question our assumptions. It
stimulates us to think about how we can apply our new knowledge
to what we are doing. New ideas open up doors and cause
us to question our basic assumptions about how we work and
view the world. Is there a way to do our work faster, better
or more efficiently? At Med League, we often ask: how can
software change our approach to analysis of records or our
business? How can we use our database more effectively?
How can we use medical images to convey details of the medical
issues? How can we improve the quality of the reports we
prepare?
 Learning takes energy, concentration, and focus. Advanced
age is not a reason to stop learning. I am reminded of this
when I think of my mother and her brothers. I have come
to realize that the obstacles that we see are often only
in our minds. Last year, my 83-year-old blind uncle, wheelchair-bound
from a stroke and dependent on oxygen, could not see any
reason why he could not fly from Colorado to Ocean City,
Maryland on Thanksgiving to get together with his siblings.
He runs his own business providing services for the blind.
His 80-year-old brother, an ex-marine, was not discouraged
by the need to drive from North Carolina to Maryland. His
job is consulting with the food industry. My mother, age
76, was not deterred by the chemotherapy she was undergoing
for recurrent colon cancer from making the trip. She had
retired earlier that year from a job as a nursing instructor.
(She has just completed a course on how to teach illiterate
adults and plans to be a volunteer instructor as soon as
she comes back from her cruise across the Atlantic.) All
three siblings arrived for the gathering and plan to do
it again this year. Are these siblings unusual? They don’t
think so.
Do you ever accept limitations
and believe you cannot learn something? Why?
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