Ryan Singerman, DO, of Fort Wayne, was sworn in Sunday to begin his presidential term for 2025-2026. Dr. Singerman is a family physician with a specialty in obesity medicine, and is the primary care section chief and medical director of weight and bariatric medicine at Parkview Health in Fort Wayne. He earned his medical degree from Pikeville College School of Osteopathic Medicine, and has been an ISMA member since 2011.
A copy of the speech Dr. Singerman delivered is provided.
My fellow physicians, colleagues, honored guests, friends, and family,
It is a deep honor to stand before you today as the incoming president of the Indiana State Medical Association. My path here was not one that I foresaw. I grew up in Benin, West Africa with my Southern Baptist missionary parents. I worked as a translator for volunteer medical teams, which stoked a passion for medicine. I met my wife in college in central Kentucky, and one year after marriage I attended Pikeville College School of Osteopathic Medicine, now KYCOM. Never happy with only practicing one aspect of medicine, I attended family residency in Fort Wayne where I became a proud Family Practice Physician -- the true jack of all trades... Master of "some." My ability to practice and participate as a member of this community could not happen without the unwavering and amazing support of my wife, JK, and my children, Jacqueline, Darren, and Michael. Thank you -- without your love I could not be here today! My heartfelt thanks to my parents, Jeff and Barbara, and my father- and sister-in-law, Jim and Karel Tiefel, who have traveled far to share this occasion today.
Whenever I meet a new patient, I usually tell them that I don't know everything, and that I'm far from perfect -- something my wife will testify to! But I assure them that I know where to find the answers I don't readily know, and that I'll work tirelessly alongside them to achieve optimal health. When I encounter roadblocks, I reach out to experts in our specialty fields and consult our journals to source sound, scientific answers. I stand on the firm foundation of evidence-based, compassionate medical care.
I bring the same pledge to this body--to work tirelessly for our profession and our patients, and to lean on the combined knowledge, strengths, and skills of those gathered here, on our board, and in our professional societies. Although there is much I do not know, the combined medical knowledge represented in this room is easily over 10 million hours of experience--and that level of expertise cannot be understated!
I step into this role not with easy answers, but with a profound conviction that now more than ever, we must come together — unified in our purpose, steadfast in our values, and resolute in defending the practice of medicine.
We face real and growing threats from a myriad of sources.
Insurers are increasingly denying necessary care based on profit margins, not patient needs. Reimbursements continue to drop, even as the cost of running a practice—especially in rural and underserved areas—skyrockets. Cuts to Medicaid, public health programs, nutritional support like food stamps and school lunches, are being proposed or enacted at both state and federal levels, all while physicians are asked to do more with less. The foundation of science is being actively attacked, expertise and evidence shoved aside for feelings or finances.
We have witnessed some unprecedented developments in recent times. Quiet revisions made to published studies and clinical guidance at the CDC and the NIH, reshaping wording to fit ideology. Dismissals and reassignments within prestigious bodies like the ACIP and CDC seem to pressure conformity with weak or debunked evidence. When science is reshaped to serve politics rather than objective truth, physicians must not remain silent.
We cannot afford to let partisan pressure erode the sacred trust between patients and physicians. While we physicians may differ in political beliefs or personal values, what must unite us is our unyielding commitment to evidence-based care and our duty to our patients.
We are often faced with choosing sides in cultural debates—on abortion, gender-affirming care, end-of-life decisions, reproductive medicine, and others. These are complex issues, with moral weight and nuance. But we do ourselves, our patients, and our profession a disservice when we reduce them to binary battles.
Our focus should not be to champion one political camp over another. Our focus must be to protect the physician-patient relationship from interference by those with neither the training nor the responsibility to bear its consequences. A one-size-fits-all solution truly fits no one.
No bill, no boardroom, and no bureaucracy should interfere with sound, evidence-based care between a patient and their physician—let THAT be our line in the sand.
As someone formed by the principles of osteopathic medicine, I have been influenced time and again by the wisdom of Dr. Andrew Taylor Still--the founder of osteopathy. For instance, "Man is a component of mind, body, and spirit"--meaning illness in any one of those three domains can lead to symptoms in the other two. That "anyone can find disease, but a true physician finds health." And "the body has the innate ability to heal; our role is to remove those barriers that prevent healing."
I truly believe the human body—and the body of the ISMA—has the capacity to heal. Our task is to find and remove the barriers. Some of those are external: legislative overreach, corporate influence, misinformation, scope creep, insurance, and countless more. But others are internal: mistrust, burnout, personal politics, and divisions amongst ourselves.
Let us remove them. Let us restore trust. Let us forgive and rebuild, not only for our own sakes, but for the future of medicine in Indiana and for the prosperity of our patients and medical students.
I do not pretend that unity is easy. I do not ask that we agree on every issue. But what I do ask is this: when disagreement arises, let us not retreat into factions. Let us instead find common ground, rooted in our shared calling to heal. When wedge issues exist, let us not fall to binary divides, but return to the foundation of the patient-doctor relationship--and trust our colleagues to do what's best for their patients in accordance with compassion, science, and our specialties.
I am a man of faith and of science—shaped by Christian upbringing by phenomenal parents, a personal daily walk with Jesus, and a sustaining family practice supported by evidence-based medicine. I believe truth can withstand scrutiny. And I believe we are strongest when we speak the truth clearly and boldly, even when it makes others uncomfortable.
Let us be this kind of profession.
One that defends public health from underfunding. One that insists on truth in medical education and clinical guidance. One that protects our most vulnerable—our children, our elderly, our poor, our marginalized, our immigrants—protect them from policies that would leave them behind. One that leads by example in decency, decorum, and debate.
Our mission should not be a simple statement -- it must be a declaration: That Indiana’s physicians will not be silent. That we will speak boldly, compassionately, and with unity—not to serve politics, but to serve our patients and our profession.
Let this be our legacy: that we remained the voice of reason, the hand of healing, and the heart of science when it was most needed.
Thank you! And may God bless us and guide us as we stand firm against the flood.