Explore Family Medicine serves as

great theme for Annual Meeting

During the MAFP annual meeting, Explore Family Medicine theme was carried out throughout the four-day meeting. 

MAFP President Dr. Paul Pavlov and his wife, Teresa welcomed kids and their families dressed in “exploring attire” at the MAFP CAMP Family Fun Night Event held at the Marina Beach. The kids were given camp goodies at the entrance and the evening was filled with water toys, sand building, face

painting, airbrush tattoos, bubbles, hair tinsel and kid friendly food.

Our theme decorations were a hit! We invite our attendees to use our theme decorations for photo opportunities throughout the event. The registration area was the perfect place to stop and pose for the camera!

If you have attended our annual session, you know our attendees always receive a MAFP t-shirt that has our logo theme, and we love seeing our members and families show them off during the event. It is a tradition that on the first day of CME, our attendees pose for a group photo. This photo is utilized for the cover of our membership directory. This year we packed into the foyer to get the special lighting – it is always a challenge to round up 130 plus family docs for a photo, but we did it!

We were thrilled to have 76 exhibits and 105 exhibitors join us this year. As our attendees know, our exhibit hall helps enhance our meeting with extra activities for our members and families, so we genuinely appreciate their support. We added extra time in the exhibit hall this year to give our docs 2.5 full hours during the morning, plus a full hour during breakfast prior to CME sessions. We are thrilled when exhibitors get in the spirit and decorate their booth according to our theme. Our exhibitors even join us in our Loot and Scoot event, where we invite the kids into the exhibit hall and grab all the loot they can in 30 minutes from our generous exhibitors. It adds to the fun.

MAFP Members Earn FAAFP Honor

MAFP is pleased to have four members achieve the Degree of Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians. AAFP President Elect Dr. Steve Furr of Alabama presented the Degree of Fellow during the Mississippi Academy of Family Physicians Annual Meeting in July.

Drs. Dewayne Gammel of Winona, Allen Martin of Hattiesburg, Anug Marya of Jackson, and Ajay Vongala of Jackson received the award during the MAFP Awards Luncheon during the annual session.

Established in 1971, the AAFP Degree of Fellow recognizes family physicians who have distinguished themselves through service to family medicine and ongoing professional development. This year’s fellowship class brings the total number of AAFP Fellows to more than 18,000 nationwide. AAFP Fellowship entitles the physician to use the honorary designation, “Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians,” or “F.A.A.F.P.”

Criteria for receiving the AAFP Degree of Fellow consist of a minimum of six years of membership in the organization, extensive continuing medical education, participation in public service programs outside medical practice, conducting original research and serving as a teacher in family medicine.

MAFP encourages all members to work to achieve the Degree of Fellow. Any Active, Life or Inactive member, with dues and re-elections in good standing, may, upon application to the AAFP, be elected to receive the Degree of Fellow upon fulfilling the requirements. For more information, https://www.msafp.org/professional-development/fellow/

The next convocation ceremony will be July 23 at the 2024 MAFP Annual Meeting in Destin, Florida.

Pavlov shares MAFP Successes

During the MAFP Annual Awards Luncheon, MAFP President, Dr. Paul Pavlov shared successes from his year as MAFP President, 2022 – 2023.  He thanked the MAFP board, leadership, and staff for their work on prominent issues that continue to keep the MAFP a strong organization.

Session Victories from the 2023 Legislative Session:

• The Mississippi Academy of Family Physicians worked to help get Senate Bill 2212, regarding postpartum care, to the finish line this year. The bill directs the Division of Medicaid to provide up to 12 months of continuous postpartum coverage for any individual who qualifies for Medicaid as a pregnant woman to the extent allowable under federal law.

• In 2022, MAFP tracked the regulatory process surrounding the implementation of the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act that passed in the 2022 Legislative Session. MAFP submitted a letter to the Occupational Licensure Review Board with its comments and suggestions regarding additional regulatory actions the Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure took regarding physician participation in the cannabis program. This session, MAFP’s concerns were addressed in House Bill 1158. The bill added language to the Act specifying that occupational licensing boards are prohibited from requiring additional registration or from establishing regulations outside of those specifically identified in the Act.

• House Bill 485 passed, creating a Sexual Assault Evidence Accountability Task Force, tasked with developing and approving standardized policies and procedures concerning sexual assault evidence collection. MAFP submitted recommendations to improve the bill. These suggestions were so well-received by the legislators and advocates for the bill that MAFP was asked if we would be willing to participate on the task force. One of MAFP’s goals is to be seen as an organization with policy solutions, and the advocacy committee did excellent work on this bill to receive that recognition.

In Washington, DC last September, your Mississippi delegation, in particular Dr. Dustin Gentry, authored, testified, and fought for resolutions on behalf of the family doctors in the state of Mississippi. MAFP members should be proud that several of our resolutions passed and are aimed at directly improving the practice of medicine for our family doctors.

Our own student board representative, Richard Easterling was elected to the AAFP Board of Directors as student representative and spoke before the congress of Delegates last September.

A former MAFP President, Dr. John Mitchell was elected to become the President of the MS State Medical Association. We wish him the best in his new position.

Congratulations to Dr. Brent Smith on being awarded the Philanthropist of the Year for the

AAFP Foundation, a national award. Dr. Smith is also Mississippi’s endorsed candidate to run for the AAFP Board of Directors this October in Chicago. This is the first candidate Mississippi has run since 2005. Dr. Smith wants our members to have a workplace that does not exhaust us with trivial tasks and endless checkboxes. He dreams of a better workplace that respects our unique potential to impact and reinvigorate the system. We are excited to have him be a part of the efforts at the AAFP. 

Our bylaws committee, chaired by Dr. Stephen Hammack took on the task of reviewing the bylaws to replace outdated language, make grammatical corrections, and clarifying language.

MAFP Announces The Katie Patterson Award for Excellence in Physicians Mentorship

The MAFP lost one of our absolute best last year. On September 4, Dr. Katie Patterson succumbed to a brief and sudden illness. There was scarcely a position within the MAFP that Katie did not hold. An MAFP Past President, she was serving as one of 2 Mississippi delegates to the AAFP, Advocacy Committee Chair and FamDocPAC chair. Only weeks before her death, the MAFP honored her with the Family Physician of the Year award. She was one of the youngest individuals, and only the second female to receive the award since its beginning in 1977.

The MAFP honored her with a resolution presented at the AAFP Congress of Delegates last September where the delegation stood and applauded her and remembered her passion of love for family medicine. At our fall board meeting we toasted Katie before we started our board meeting and remembered how much fun she added to our meetings and then celebrated her during the conference.

Dr. Patterson mentored others by helping them achieve their career objectives through moral, social, and intellectual support. She was a gifted teacher who educated countless medical students and residents, hosting with enthusiasm rural rotations, obstetrical blocks, lectures, and mentoring.

During the announcement of the Family Physician of the Year, Dr. Lee Giffin shared that Dr. Patterson should be the one giving the award as she was the recipient last year. He asked the audience to indulge him with 2 requests in her honor, give a big laugh out loud as Dr. Patterson loved to have fun and then

touch the person beside you to show love and compassion as she did every day with her patients, family, friends, and colleagues. All attendees gladly participated in the remembrance of Katie.

During the MAFP Awards Luncheon in July, Dr. Pavlov introduced a new award in honor of Dr. Katherine Patterson, The Katie Patterson Award for Excellence in Physician Mentorship.

This award will be given to a physician who actively provides guidance and encouragement to medical students or residents and contributes to the personal and professional development of future leaders in the field of family medicine.

In the words of Dr. Patterson’s speech on July 18, 2017, as she accepted the gavel as MAFP President,

I see becoming President of the Mississippi Academy of Family Physicians as a chance to encourage my fellow physicians to rekindle their love of family medicine and renew their commitment to our specialty.

At this year’s meeting, keeping up with the annual tradition of their family vacation during the MAFP meeting, Dr. Patterson’s husband, David and their sons, Samuel, Reilly, Nicholas, and John Kastens joined us for the event. It was heartwarming to see their smiles and proud faces when Dr. Pavlov shared

about the new award that will continue to keep Katie’s legacy alive as we recognize a physician in her honor. The lights even went out during the announcement, and one of the boys shouted, that’s my mom!

Let’s honor Katie by encouraging each other and continue to make family medicine the best specialty.

12 Students Chosen as Academy Ambassadors

This year 12 medical students joined the MAFP as our Academy Ambassadors at Sandestin for the MAFP Annual Meeting, July 15 – 19.

Students apply to be an Academy Ambassador online and if elected, the MAFP Foundation pays for hotel room and expenses during the meeting. The Ambassadors had the opportunity to meet with MS residency coordinators, practicing physicians and residents, along with potential future employers.

The Ambassadors were a tremendous help with staffing events, selling MAFP swag, working in the exhibit hall and selling MAFP Foundation raffle and split the pot tickets. They even had free time to enjoy the beach and area. Each night, they were invited to special outings that allowed them to learn about opportunities.

Academy Ambassador and Student Board Member, Syed Amanuddin, shared about his experience during the 4-day meeting, “participating in this conference has not only enriched my professional growth but has also allowed me to connect with like-minded individuals from various backgrounds. The insights gained and the networking opportunities provided will undoubtedly have a positive impact on my future endeavors.”

Ambassadors from University of MS Medical Center were (Left Photo): 

Taylor Cupit

Jana Taylor

Brice Utley

William Windham

Nader Pahlevan

Ambassadors from William Carey included (Right Photo): 

Amer Khan

Syed Amanuddin

Stacy Mitchell

Saman Govaria

Hetal Champaneri

Randi Patterson

Seetharam Narra