THANK YOU TO OUR 2021 TOP SPONSORS | |
|
It was great to see so many colleagues and new FMEC supporters at the 2021 Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh last month. It’s been way too long since we were able to get together! Despite the COVID-19 challenges – and a hotel overrun by Pittsburgh Steelers fans on Saturday night – it was a wonderful meeting, introducing hundreds of medical students to family medicine and reenergizing residents and faculty with exciting clinical content and innovations. We’re looking forward to our next Annual Meeting, September 16-18, 2022 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, VA.
I also want to recognize and thank Dr. Andrea Anderson of the George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences, who ended her term on the FMEC Board of Trustees last month. The FMEC is particularly grateful to Dr. Anderson for chairing the Annual Meeting during a difficult year (2020). While her new commitments required her to step down from the FMEC board, we expect to see her when we are in the DC area at the 2022 Annual Meeting! On behalf of the entire FMEC family, I extend gratitude for her time, service and contributions to the FMEC and to family medicine. Donald (Raj) Woolever, MD, FAAFP, FMEC President
| |
FMEC Annual Meeting Recap | |
|
The 2021 FMEC Annual Meeting was held October 8-10, 2021 in Pittsburgh, PA. Despite a difficult year, the meeting was a huge success, attended by 261 faculty members, 174 residents, and 237 medical students. The Residency Fair featured nearly 70 residency program booths and was as lively and loud as ever. The program featured over 170 workshops, seminars, research presentations, discussions and more and nearly 100 posters.
The FMEC appreciates responses from attendees to our post-meeting surveys. We are listening to your feedback for 2022 and beyond. We also love hearing what you learned and will take back to your programs, including the following.
· “The workshops on getting published and reflective writing workshops were incredible! I have already taken these learnings back to my residency program and began to implement them.”
· “I learned about new ways to take care of residents who need remediation and how to design an osteopathic evaluation form.”
· “I will be more comfortable in care for older transgender patients after several excellent talks.”
Those who were unable to attend can see what they missed in the 2021 Annual Meeting Program, in the 2021 Awards Booklet, and on our YouTube Channel, which features presentations from the Innovators Network on topics such as using social media to market your practice, culturally sensitive strategies for weight loss, the role of primary care in affordable housing, and more.
Plan now to join the FMEC at the 2022 Annual Meeting, September 16-18, 2022 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, VA.
| |
|
FMEC Board of Trustees Meeting Recap
The FMEC Board of Trustees met on October 7, 2021 in Pittsburgh, PA. In addition to routine business, such as identifying locations for future Annual Meetings, the members discussed anticipated challenges to family medicine over the next 20 years, as predicted by Dr. Douglas Henley, the CEO Emeritus of the American Academy of Family Physicians. A lively discussion followed, with members taking specific interest in determining how the FMEC can better support the practice and employment choices of graduating residents, the need for more education and action on the social determinants of health, and the use of artificial intelligence in primary care, at many levels (patient education, population health, and provider use). The board also spent time discussing how the medical fields are approaching social justice and racial inequities. In 2021, the FMEC established a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee, led by Dr. Sarah Ramirez, and we are actively formulating plans for related initiatives starting in 2022. The FMEC Board of Trustees next meetings are scheduled for December 19, 2021 and February 24-26, 2022. Are you interested in being considered for a position on the FMEC Board of Trustees? If so, please contact Dr. Raj Woolever at [email protected].
We’ve moved! Remember to update your records
If you haven’t already, please update your records with the FMEC’s new address: PMB 362, 3195 Dayton-Xenia Road, Suite 900, Dayton, Ohio 45434-6390. Share this with anyone in your hospital or health system who needs it!
Year-end funds to spend? Don’t let them go to waste!
The FMEC could not do what we do without the financial support of our members, partners, sponsors, and exhibitors. As you close out your 2021, we encourage you to look at your organizational and personal budgets and act now to support FMEC in 2022. You can act before December 31, 2021 to join the FMEC, register for the 2022 meeting, reserve a booth, and support student scholarships. For more information, read about our options for 2021 year-end support.
| |
|
Integrative Health Initiative extends cohort through spring 2022
The FMEC’s Integrative Health Learning Community, graciously supported and led by the Samueli Foundation, has completed a year of working with over a dozen sites to learn about the HOPE Toolkit, non-pharmacological approaches for pain and opioid management, and evidence-based complementary treatments and support of self-care for chronic diseases. Every site reporting found that the experience helped them improve care and healing. Many plan to introduce the strategies into residency training, and they also reported that patients appreciated the information they received about non-drug and other services. A cohort of sites are continuing to work with Dr. Wayne Jonas and the other faculty during an extension period, where they will continue to explore issues such as defining team roles and responsibilities in integrative care; securing leadership support and making the “business case,” and the role of technology including electronic medical records and apps.
| |
Direct Primary Care Summit is set for July 2022
Once again, the FMEC is proud to cosponsor the Direct Primary Care Summit, which is scheduled for July 15-17, 2022 in Kansas City, MO. The joint planning committee (FMEC, AAFP, ACOFP and the DPC Alliance) is hard at work developing the agenda. FMEC thanks Dr. Ken Rictor of Scotland, PA for representing FMEC on the committee. Watch for more information about registration in the near future. On a related note, Healthcare Finance reports that direct primary care is gaining traction among employers, and that while employees are not very familiar with the model, they become interested upon learning more. Read the short article Employees want direct primary care from their employer plans from November 2, 2021.
| |
FACTS Updates and December 6 Webinar
On November 11, 2021, the FACTS (Fertility Appreciation Collaborative to Teach the Science) shared A Case for FABM Instructors, in which author Calley Gober interviewed users of three different fertility awareness-based methods (FABM), which are ways of monitoring one’s physical signs of fertility to understand the inner cycle within a woman’s body. Read about how each woman learned about FABMs and the value an FABM instructor can bring to their understanding. FACTS will also present The Female Cycle as the 5th Vital Sign as a webinar on December 6, 2021 at Noon Eastern, highlighting the health of the female cycle and how the fertility awareness chart can potentially aid in the diagnosis and management of common women’s health concerns. Participation in the webinar is open to all audiences. The course content has been reviewed and is acceptable for up to 1.50 Prescribed credit(s) by the American Academy of Family Physicians. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
| |
|
IRMC receives national accreditation for rural residency program
Indiana Regional Medical Center (IRMC), an FMEC organizational partner, has received initial Accreditation from the Association Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) for its Rural Family Medicine Residency Program. Residents at IRMC will have opportunities to participate in community medicine programs with the local Amish community and migrant farm workers, sports medicine opportunities at local high schools and Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP), and more. The program has begun recruiting for the 2022 match. For more information, read IRMC Receives National Accreditation for a Rural Family Medicine Residency Program.
| |
|
Navigate saves thousands on your student loans
The FMEC’s business partner, Navigate, has put FMEC members on track to save $22,511,935 on their student loans through Public Service Loan Forgiveness and other programs, including consultations in October 2021 alone that could save over $708,000. Reach out to Navigate today to talk about your debt and strategies to help. For more information, Visit https://navigatestudentloans.com/fmec/.
CDC materials reinforce confidence in COVID-19 vaccines
When deciding to get vaccinated, patients struggle with cultural and political factors, input from their friends, families and social groups, and things they hear all over – right and wrong – about vaccines. Strong confidence in COVID-19 vaccines within communities will lead to high vaccination rates, which leads to fewer COVID-19 illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence web site offers family physicians tools to help address COVID-19 misinformation in your community, reach people with limited vaccine access, tailor COVID-19 information to specific audiences, and understand community needs through a rapid community assessment process.
Primary Care Collaborative Summit
On November 9-10, the Primary Care Collaborative (PCC) held an online working summit, From Crisis to Opportunity: Primary Care for All Communities. Over 100 leaders participated in the invitation-only event, using the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s (NASEM) report from May 2021, Implementing High-Quality Primary Care: Rebuilding the Foundation of Health Care, as the basis of their discussions. During the summit, attendees unanimously voiced support for joining a coalition that would be dedicated to increasing investment in primary care and new payment models to support robust teams delivering integrated care and services. For more information, see the speakers and topics from the summit, or contact PCC.
| |
|
A selection of upcoming family medicine and primary care meetings, nationally and in the FMEC region, in the next 3 months. If you have a meeting to be listed, please email [email protected].
September 16-18, 2022: FMEC 2022 Annual Meeting, Hyatt Regency Crystal City, Arlington, VA
December 16: FMEC Board of Trustees meeting
January 14-16: New York AFP Winter Weekend 2022
January 26-28: STFM Conference on Medical Student Education, virtual
January 27-30: Virginia AFP Winter Family Medicine Weekend
February 23-26: Association of Departments of Family Medicine Annual Conference, Denver, CO
February 24-26: FMEC Board of Trustees meeting
February 25-27: Maryland AFP Annual Meeting and Winter Refresher, Baltimore, MD
| | | | |
