Committee Highlights
Communications | Education | Legislative Affairs | Membership | Program | Research
Communications Committee
The Communications Committee oversees all publication vehicles of the Society including Family Medicine, the Messenger, the Teaching Physician, all electronic communications, including the Web site and the STFM Resource Library (FMDRL), policies
related to STFM awards and publications. This year, the committee worked on a electronic voting proposal to the STFM Board of Directors that resulted in the formation of an STFM Election Taskforce to examine the entire election process for STFM Board of Directors. The Communications Committee also worked on a new job description in preparation for the New Family Medicine Editor Search. The committee is led by Communications Committee Chair Elizabeth Naumburg, MD. The full committee is listed here.
Education Committee
The Education Committee oversees STFM's educational programs
and curriculum development. They are currently developing the STFM Boot Camp, an online basic training course for new residency faculty. The committee plans the Conference on Medical Student Education, including oversight of the Student-run Free Clinic held in conjunction with the MSE Conference. The committee selects the best peer paper presentations of this conference and works with the presenters to publish extended abstracts in Teaching and Learning in Medicine. In addition, the Education Committee also manages the Medical Student Educators Development Institute, organizes the STFM Academic Track
at the National Conference of Family Medicine Residents and Medical
Students, and oversees the production of the STFM Education Column published each month in the STFM Messenger. David Steele, PhD serves as chair of the Education Committee. The full committee is listed here.
Legislative Affairs Committee
The Legislative Affairs Committee works closely with STFM's Government
Relations staff in Washington, DC. The committee's main task is to
help shape STFM's legislative policies. They use these policies to
advocate for the interests of academic family medicine professionals
and their students, residents, and patients. Committee members
regularly attend the Family Medicine Congressional Conference, where
they head to Washington to refine their lobbying skills and go meet
with their elected officials and their staff. The committee also
oversees STFM's bylaws. The committee has been working to ensure that
academic family medicine
has its place in the current health reform process, including the
development of policy that would modernize primary care graduate
medical education. This year the legislative affairs staff added a new CAFM Briefing Room.
It was created to keep members up to date on key issues and legislative
activities. The committee is led by Jerry Kruse, MD, MSPH. The full
committee is listed here.
Membership Committee
The Membership Committee reviews and develops membership promotions and programs and monitors members’ needs and the Society’s ability to respond to those needs. This year they engaged in brainstorming sessions to develop and consider potential new benefits for members, which included a CV/portfolio builder and a new category of Life Membership. In the end, the CV/portfolio builder was not going to be useful across membership, but Life Membership is still under consideration. New membership development is always a focus of the committee, and this year a campaign included outreach to chairs at osteopathic schools. The committee also organizes the New Member/First-time Attendee orientation and the Group Chair's Meeting at each year's Annual Spring Conference. Committee Chair Sim Galazka, MD, guides the committee's important activities. The full committee is listed here.
Program Committee
The Program Committee plans the Annual Spring Conference, which serves as a showcase for the latest developments in family medicine education and research. Committee members oversee the planning of the meeting. They set the educational agenda and program through a yearly Call for Papers, organize and perform reviews of the more than 600 annual submissions, attend to meeting logistics, and serve as conference moderators. The committee works to optimize the value of the conference by hosting an orientation for new attendees, holding an open committee meeting during the conference, seeking participant feedback, and reviewing post-conference evaluations. Program Committee Chair Stephen A. Wilson, MD, MPH, started his 4-year term this year. The full committee is listed here.
Research Committee
The Research Committee organizes the research offerings at the Annual Spring Conference. Through an annual call for papers, the committee chooses high-quality research forums and posters, including a special fellows/residents/students works-in-progress poster session, to showcase each year. The committee also chooses the Best Research Paper Award winner and plans the Research Plenary. The committee is trying to fulfill the mandate to facilitate and develop research among the STFM membership. The committee promotes continued development of researchers, research activities, and research support for family medicine. Some highlights of this year's activities include the initiation and development of a medical education research consortium. The committee's efforts have been led by Arch Mainous III, PhD, Research Committee chair. The full committee is listed here.