I was fortunate to attend President Obama's recent White House meeting with practicing doctors from all 50 states. My attendance was more a lucky coincidence than due to any merit on my part.

The group of physicians that I joined, and that subsequently got the White House invitation, is called "Doctors for America" and they were "Doctors for Obama" before the election. They have always supported the president's reform plans as those plans evolved. Their core goals are to expand access to care, make it affordable via insurance (including a public option), to improve the quality of care (our job as doctors), and to improve the practice environment for doctors and their patients and the next generation of health care providers.

In the Rose Garden the president urged us to remember our oath, that is to focus on the patient at all times, and to use our power as caregivers to talk both to our patients and to the opponents of reform to help them understand the obstacles to care we face with our current system. He urged us to go public with our everyday stories.

Recently Dr. Oglesby Young wrote about malpractice problems ("Defensive medicine takes a financial toll," Sunday Monitor Viewpoints, Oct. 4), and Dr. Patricia Kiefner wrote a letter to the editor on the role of for-profit insurance companies in our current situation ("A frontline tale from the health care wars," Monitor, Oct. 5). I commend them for doing so, and I urge other "Johnny come lately" physicians such as myself to communicate their thoughts now.

I have been out of surgical residency for over 31 years and have practiced general surgery in Concord for 21 years. Over this time I have watched the quality of care in our nation deteriorate, particularly in the past decade. I moved to Concord because of its reputation for good clinical care, which it still deserves, but even Concord is not immune to the national systemic problems.

Obama's plan is a great start in repairing the damage. He deserves our support and the support of all of our congressional representatives, including our senior senator, Judd Gregg.

I feel privileged to have worked in Concord and now for the opportunity to be heard in Washington. Now is the time for physicians to share their thoughts with the public. They want to know.

(Dr. Nick Perencevich lives in Concord.)