Texas helps shape the future of family medicine at AAFP FUTURE

AAFP’s annual FUTURE conference for students and residents was held last week in Kansas City, Missouri, and the TAFP and Texas representation did not disappoint. Thousands of medical students and family medicine residents traveled from across the country to network and learn, including more than 130 from Texas. Check out some photos of TAFP in action here.

The TAFP Foundation funded 17 medical students as well as resident leaders to travel to Kansas City and experience all the conference had to offer. Additionally, 25 family medicine residency programs from Texas were in the expo hall, meeting students from across the country, hopefully recruiting them for the Texas family medicine physician workforce.

TAFP hosted a Texas-themed networking social Thursday evening for all Texas attendees and as always, we had lots of attendees and fun. Around 130 Texans attended including medical students, residents, and residency faculty, as well as students from elsewhere who are interested in Texas residency programs. This allowed for even more time outside the expo hall for networking and socializing. 

TAFP received a grant from the AAFP Foundation to throw the social through their Family Medicine Chapter Alliance program. Since 2006, the FMCA Grant Awards program has provided over $1.6 million to support projects of constituent chapters nationwide. Funding for the program is provided by generous donors. If you’d like to contribute, make a donation to the AAFP Foundation and select "Chapter Grants" as the designation. 

Friday morning, the Family Medicine Interest Group from the University of Texas Medical Branch John Sealy School of Medicine was honored as one of AAFP’s overall Program of Excellence Award winners. FMIGs give medical students the opportunity to learn more about the specialty of family medicine and teach them leadership skills. AAFP’s annual awards are given to groups for the work they do to promote family medicine at their medical schools and within their communities.

Three medical students and two residents from Texas attended FUTURE through the AAFP Foundation’s Family Medicine Leads Emerging Leader Institute. The year-long program works to increase the number of family medicine leaders in the healthcare workforce. 

• Rinka Ko, second-year student at UNT Health Fort Worth — Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine
• Meyer Maddox, fourth-year student at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine
• Nima Rahman, fourth-year student at Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin
• Sanjna Jagani, MD, PGY-2 at DHR Health Family Medicine Residency
• Erica Munoz, DO, PGY-2 at TIGMER Community-Based Family Medicine Residency Program

TAFP delegates attended their respective congresses, taking time to work on their resolution writing skills and gain experience serving in leadership roles. Thank you to these delegates for volunteering and attending.

• Kaylee Grigsby, McGovern Medical School, TAFP Student Delegate to AAFP Student Congress
• Magdalena Shen, Sam Houston State University College of Osteopathic Medicine, TAFP Student Alternate Delegate to AAFP Student Congress
• Mohit Sharma, MD, SHSU Family Medicine Huntsville, TAFP Resident Delegate to AAFP Resident Congress
• Olga Pudovka Gross, MD, TTUHSC Family Medicine Residency — Amarillo, TAFP Resident Alternate Delegate to AAFP Resident Congress

Additionally, Texas residents and students also had four posters accepted to the National Conference Poster Competition. Their posters were on display throughout the entirety of the conference, giving their research quite a bit of exposure.

• Impact of a Data-Driven, System-Based Intervention on Ambulatory Medication Harm (Research) Shana-Kay Lambert-Johnson, MD | Medical City Fort Worth
• Amigos En Medicina: A Student-Led Free Clinic Addressing Barriers to Osteoarthritis Care in a Predominantly Hispanic Community (Community Project) Larissa Garza and Arcadio Salinas | University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine
• Assessment of the Impact of Self-Regulated Learning Component on Student Knowledge Retention in Family Medicine Procedural Workshops (Educational Program) Nicole Kuo and Athena Berreles-Luna | UT Medical Branch 
• Building Capacity: Forensic Medical Evaluations in Central Texas (Educational Program) Nima Rahman | Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin

As always, the energy and excitement for the future of family medicine was palpable throughout the conference. TAFP enjoys seeing so many programs and students represent Texas at FUTURE every year and appreciate the time taken to interact with the Academy.