AAFP National Conference Recaps  

The Illinois Academy of Family Physicians sent resident and student delegates to the AAFP National Conference of Students and Residents to represent our state.  Your delegates surveyed the IAFP student and resident members via online survey before the conference and took your input seriously when casting their votes at the Congress.   

Below are the conference reports from your respective delegates:  

Resident Delegate:  Helen Xenos, MD UIC-Illinois Masonic Family Medicine Residency, Chicago  

National Conference offers such a well-rounded and unique experience.  I was able to learn more about health policy being shaped by family doctors and how regulations affect us.  At the same time I had the opportunity to sharpen my procedural skills and meet interesting people from my state and all over the country.  I only wish I had attended as a medical student as well.  

During the Business Sessions at National Conference, I found that most of the interests and concerns voiced were similar to those of Illinois students and residents.  Data from Illinois medical student and resident surveys, as well as comments from Illinois conference attendees, illustrated that the majority of us are interested in participating and practicing on a national/international level.   

We also believe that the most important policy issues currently are: access to healthcare, national healthcare, school age nutrition/health and anti-smoking.  Programs in residency that we would like to see enhanced include procedural skills training (64%), community health (46%), school health (42%), integrative medicine (37%), and practice management (29%). Not surprising, 78% of Illinois medical students and residents report that loan forgiveness or relief programs may influence where they practice.   

Resolutions adopted by the Resident Congress reflected many of our concerns. I supported reinstatement of economic hardship deferment and the Higher Education Act reauthorization. A resolution expanding Tar Wars to urban underserved areas was adopted, as well as one on global health networking.  Resolutions on teaching the medical home model in residency, integrating social services in the urban medical home, fellowship information dissemination and evidence based contraception education were other resolutions of interest that were adopted.   

The AAFP Commission on Education will now make its recommendations to the AAFP Board of Directors based on our resolutions.  I’m honored to be a part of an academy that values the feedback of its student and resident members to this degree.  Thank you for your input and the opportunity to represent you!  

Link to the full list of resolutions from the Resident Congress at:  http://www.aafp.org/online/etc/medialib/aafp_org/documents/cme/courses/conf/conference/residentresolutions.Par.0001.File.tmp/nc08_resident_resolutions.pdf

Student Delegate: Anthony Mrgudich Loyola University Chicago, Stritch School of Medicine 
Imagine walking into an arena-sized exhibit hall with hundreds of intricately decorated residency program booths filled with a never-ending supply of kind and interesting residents excited about family medicine.  You walk through the Colorado residency program aisle just to enter the Oregon aisle, only to end up bumping into several amazing residents from the Chicago and Illinois residency programs.  You cannot contain the excitement that exists at the AAFP National Conference.  For those like me with a preconceived interest in family medicine, attending this event is like surrounding yourself with others who share a special hobby you enjoy or sport you love to play.  While basking in the enthusiasm for family medicine, I became amazed at how “at home” I felt around these residents. Residents talked about their interests in underserved medicine, international experiences, primary care from cradle to grave, preventive medicine, as well as hospitalist care opportunities, fellowships in high-risk obstetrics, and sports medicine.

The national conference this year was a perfect opportunity to become reacquainted with the reasons why we entered the medical field in the first place.  Dr. Gary Morsch spoke about the importance of remembering those interests, and about service to others in need.  I imagine that these issues are not often the topic of keynote speeches at conferences for most other medical specialties.  Residents served as mentors and amazing examples through their work in their communities.  How could one not be inspired to enter the field of family medicine? 

In a day and age when many physicians have taken the route of complete specialization, there is something to be said for physicians who want to treat the entire patient and become a part of lives and families.  At the national conference, physicians from all over the country, rural physicians to inner-city physicians, men and women, young and old, were all propagating their love for family medicine.

Throughout my experience I had the opportunity to go to several different workshops.  First I attended a workshop summarizing the ERAS application process.  Everything from getting letters of recommendation, to writing personal statements, and attending interviews was covered in a helpful presentation given by actual residency directors.  I attended workshops on how to speak with your Latino patients, how to plan your finances for these upcoming challenging years, as well as how to build a career in global health.  These are only three of the several dozen workshops available, along with the plethora of procedural skills workshops offered. 

As a National Conference Student Delegate, I also had the opportunity to be involved in the Congress sessions as well as to help elect new student leaders.  Delegates also joined different discussion groups.  I chose the discussion group on Urban Underserved Populations.  In this group, we talked about the barriers that many underserved patients in an urban environment face in trying to receive basic coordinated health care. 

As a result of our discussion, three other medical students and I decided to write a resolution to the student congress which asked the AAFP to assist family physicians serving urban underserved and rural populations in achieving the principles of the Patient-Centered Medical Home as well as invite social workers to provide education and training on the role and utilization of social services in the context of the medical home for the urban underserved populations.  I defended our submitted resolution the next day in front of the reference committee of residents and medical students who were assigned our particular resolution.  In the end, our resolution (Substitution Resolution S3-308) passed!  I also had the chance to listen to several resolutions presented by other medical students on topics such as the feasibility of centralized electronic medical records, pharmaceutical education and elements for family medicine residents and medical students, as well as arguments against pharmaceutical support for AAFP-sponsored continuing educational activities, as well as AAFP-sponsored awards for medical students.

At the final Student Congress and Elections meeting, we had the opportunity to further alter and vote on resolutions which were either recommended for adoption, substitution, or rejection by the reference committee.  Many of the resolutions recommended for adoption either with or without substitutions passed when they were presented for a vote by the student national congress.  I voted in favor of resolutions on topics such as promoting Tar Wars in urban and underserved areas, improving FMIG leadership development, including contraception topics at AAFP conferences, promoting evidence-based contraceptive practices, reinstating economic hardship deferment, and informing patients of the pros and cons to online personal health records.  Debate arose around a resolution which encouraged the AAFP to develop policy against the sale of tobacco products in stores that house retail health clinics.  I was in favor of this resolution, however, the majority of student congress members voted to not adopt this resolution.

During the student congress meeting, the most debate related to the involvement of pharmaceutical companies in medical education and the national conference.  While many students were against the involvement of pharmaceutical companies in continuing education activities, and AAFP-sponsored student scholarships, there were nearly just as many who agreed with the use of such pharmaceutical resources.  After intense debate the student congress voted in favor of adopting a resolution which asked the AAFP to investigate alternative sources of funding for medical student scholarships to the national conference other than pharmaceutical industry sponsorship and that funding sources be disclosed to students at the time of application.  In addition, the student congress also voted in favor of a resolution asking the AAFP to consider developing educational resources for residents and students regarding appropriate physician-industry interactions, as well as to consider a lecture which covers these topics at the 2009 national conference. 

Lastly, the resolution asking for ceasing industry support for AAFP-sponsored continuing educational activities was not passed by the student congress.  I actually voted in favor of t each of these resolutions because I firmly believe that we as medical students, residents, and practicing physicians are influenced by the advertising of pharmaceutical companies. Pharmaceutical companies would not put such large sums of money into CME events and student scholarships, if they were not in some way gaining from this approach.  In getting exposure to physicians and other health care workers, these pharmaceutical companies are influencing the way that we as physicians practice medicine, more often in a way that benefits their bottom line.  However, I also understand the difficulty in finding funding for CME events and for helping fund students to solidify their interest in family medicine without the help of pharmaceutical resources.

For more information regarding resolutions by the student congress please visit: http://www.aafp.org/online/etc/medialib/aafp_org/documents/cme/courses/conf/conference/studentresolutions.Par.0001.File.tmp/2008NCstudentresolutions.pdf. 

If you have any further questions regarding the student delegate position for the national conference, or opportunities available at the national conference or within the IAFP, feel free to email me at amrgudich@lumc.edu.   

The IAFP Resident and Student issues survey
Conducted via e-mail/web link in July 2008  

Survey Analysis in Brief
59 responses
39 resident
20 student

Satisfied with decision to enter family medicine residency?

Not Satisfied                            1          1.7%

Somewhat satisfied                   11        18.6%

Very Satisfied                           18        30.5%

Extremely satisfied                    29        49.2%  

Interested in practicing on a national or international level?

National                                   12        20.3%

International                              6          10.2%

Both                                         27        45.8%

Neither                                     14        23.7%  

What legislative and public policy health care issues do you believe the AAFP should become further involved with on the national level? Check all that apply.

Access to Healthcare                51        86.4%

National Healthcare                  43        72.9%

School Nutrition                       37        62.7%

Anti Smoking                            28        47.5%

Anti Drugs                                15        25.4%

Anti Alcohol                             14        23.7%

Anti Violence                            14        23.7%

GLBT                                      13        22%

Other                                       13        22%  

Is there an elective rotation, program or project you’d like to see enhanced? Check all that apply.  

Procedural Skills                       38        64.4%

Community Health                    27        45.8%

School Health                           25        42.4%

Integrative medicine                  22        37.3%

Practice Management               17        28.8%

Other                                       9          15.3%  

Would debt forgiveness or relief programs affect your decision to practice medicine in certain settings, such as urban or rural underserved?  

Yes                                          30        50.8%

No                                           13        22%

Possibly                                    16        27.1%

How interested are you in practicing OB in your career as a family physician?

Not Interested                          8          13.6%

Somewhat Interested                24        40.7%

Interested                                 11        18.6%

Very Interested             16        27.1%

How influential do you believe current family medicine physicians are in delivering adequate health care to rural underserved and urban underserved populations?

Not influential                           0          0%

Somewhat Influential                 12        20.3%

Very Influential             29        49.2%

Extremely Influential                  18        30.5%