Off-the-Beaten-Path at the 2024 AAFP NCFMRS
With the bittersweet farewells to graduates in June and welcomes to interns in July behind me, I was excited to head toward Kansas City for AAFP’s National Conference of Family Medicine Residents and Students. Like many of you, in between recruiting sessions, I enjoyed fellowship with faraway PD friends whom I tend to see only once or twice a year. However, this year, I also felt like I explored more of the hidden work that the academic family medicine community completed at NCFMRS and some of the non”convention”al locations in Kansas City. Here are some of the things you may not have seen while in KC!
FM-AIRE
FM residencies offering a PGY4 under FM-AIRE met on Tuesday 7/30 and Wednesday 7/31 for a pre-conference with members of the FM-AIRE Advisory Committee and representatives from the ACGME. While some programs have decades of experience with PGY-4 training, others are stretching their wings for the first time by offering just one resident per class the option of a PGY-4 in a specific area like health leadership or obesity medicine. It’s hard to say which way the wind will ultimately blow on length of training, but it’s a critical study for FM. If your program has a unique strength or a fellowship it could parlay into a PGY-4 or you’d like to learn more, cruise over to the FM-AIRE website.
AFMRD Working Group
Members of your AFMRD Board of Directors met early on Thursday 8/1 at the visually fascinating Kansas City Public Library to consider future educational programming geared toward the unique professional development needs of associate program directors and associate AFMRD members, much as NIPPD does for PDs. More to follow in the coming months!
Kansas City Public Library/Image attributable to Carol M. Highsmith and the Library of Congress
FM Learning Networks
Also on Thursday 8/1, my state’s PDs took time to consider how we might establish an effective state-wide residency network with measurable outcomes. Like many of you, we are looking at the successes of established state, regional, or interest-group collaboratives in terms of shared resources, advocacy efforts, and patient care delivery. With our state AFP chapter, we are thinking through how we can replicate those successes as a fledgling network. If you are interested in learning networks, you can contact the ABFM Foundation by emailing jfetter@theabfm.org or find resources on the Society for Teachers of Family Medicine FM Residency Leadership Network page.
AFMRD Salary Survey & Gender Parity in Compensation
Some of you may recall the description by Kelly & Barr (2022) of persistent gender disparity in compensation of FM PDs, in which they outlined potential steps for further research, including a cross-sectional analysis of trends multiple years’ of the AFMRD Salary Survey. With the 2024 Salary Survey rolling off the press, they wasted no time in scheduling a working breakfast on Friday 8/2 to chat study design and Institutional Review Board applications. I look forward to seeing the analysis in coming months!
More than just Barbeque
And finally, just for fun…while a trip to Kansas City is never complete without BBQ and burnt ends, the city also consistently has James Beard Foundation winners, semifinalists, and nominees across multiple categories. After Thursday’s opening expo hall, we ventured outside the downtown area with our residents to sample one such excellent spread at 2023 James Beard Foundation semifinalist Waldo Thai! It’s well worth the drive if you’re looking to explore eating options at the 2025 NCFMRS…can’t wait to see you all then!
Sarah Cole, DO, FAAFP
AFMRD President
Waldo Thai, Kansas City/Image attributable to www.waldothai.com