We need your help to continue the good work of
Family Medicine in Haiti! 

Please consider making a donation after watching the following video and hearing first hand from our Delegates.

 

Donate today to support Family Medicine Cares International.

President's Desk: Jason Marker, MD, FAAFP

Thanks for checking in one more time for my final blog post of the year. It's been a great year for the Foundation and I think it sets us up well for exciting things in 2016. I've taken some time to review my prior posts and am continually amazed by the work that our excellent Board of Trustees has done and the commitment that our staff members have made to executing the vision of the Board with precision. Many thanks to them all.

Our Board meeting this last November tackled some big issues for us. If I had to sum up the meeting in a word it would be "governance". I have worked hard during my time with the Board (7 years!!) to do what I could to help us gain a more solid foundation. We have restructured as an organization, adjusted terms of service, rebuilt our officer track, and created opportunities for enhanced skill set diversity at the Board table.  

This last Board meeting we tackled the matter of racial and ethnic diversity in our discussions about our new board members. We officially launched our Diversity Work Group which, led by President-Elect Dr. Hughes Melton, will spend 2016 working on the necessary internal changes to integrate a focus on diversity into our organizational DNA. We also made needed changes to the governance of our research area that will lay the groundwork for the future success of the Research Signature Program being led by new President Dr. Evelyn Lewis&Clark.

Dr. Douglas Spotts from Pennsylvania was elected as our new Treasurer and will be a powerful addition to our officer track as Dr. Brent Smith moves on from Treasurer to Vice President. Our new Trustees elected for 3 year terms are:

Corporate Trustee: Carrie Johnson with CompHealth
Chapter Trustee: Dr. Gretchen Dickson
At-Large Trustee: Dr. David Govaker

I'd like to offer here a special thank you to our outgoing Board member, Mr. Stephen Gray Wallace, whose service to the Board was much appreciated!

Finally, I'd like to thank you, our faithful blog followers, for your ongoing support of the work of the AAFP Foundation. I have had an excellent time on the Foundation Board of Trustees. I have learned a lot, always felt supported and appreciated, and been blessed with opportunities I could never have had otherwise. It's been a great run and I will miss the Board, staff and the work that we have done together. My year ahead is an unknown, but I'm sure that I will find things to keep me busy. I will continue to be involved with the FMAHealth leadership team as well as activities in my own state Chapter. I also think I'll find ways to stay in touch with my friends at the Foundation - I'm "just a donor" now and that may be my greatest asset to the organization. If I'm lucky, I'll get asked to keep teaching in the Family Medicine Leads Emerging Leader Institute (wink, wink)!

Thanks for staying in touch in 2015 and plan to join us in 2016 for future installments of the AAFP Foundation Blog.

President's Desk: Jason Marker, MD, FAAFP

For me and my family in Indiana, the start of high school marching band season usually denotes the start of autumn, but with a late-September warm snap and plenty of green in the leaves still, it felt like summer as I headed off to Denver for the AAFP Congress of Delegates and the Family Medicine Experience (FMX). As I lay-over on my return trip in the Detroit airport I see that I am returning to autumn - 50 degrees, wind, a light rain, and somehow while I was away, trees in harvest shades. This year's annual "meeting of the minds" for our specialty has ushered in fall.

 How fitting, then, that our meeting in Denver marks the turning point in the cycle of the Foundation from summer planning and committee work to preparations for our fall Board meeting and start of a new year of Foundation leadership. I will use this blog to touch on a few key areas of interest: Signature Programs, Board diversity, and our status within the "family of Family Medicine."

SIGNATURE PROGRAMS
Our Humanitarian Signature Program, Family Medicine Cares, is flourishing. We continue to see momentum for the Foundation to support new and pre-existing free clinics and lots of student and resident interest in participating in these programs. Our projects in Haiti are overflowing with interest in all three sectors of patient care, humanitarian support, and medical education, and we are expanding in a more robust longitudinal faculty development project using both face-to-face and distance learning approaches. Dr. Don Briscoe, a residency program director in Houston is helping guide this process as a consultant to our planning team.

Family Medicine Leads (FML) - both the National Conference scholarship program and the FML Emerging Leader Institute - has created considerable buzz among the leadership of the Academy and among the students and residents themselves as they are already expressing interest in next year - 10 months away! Click here to watch our video highlighting the inaugural FML Emerging Leader Institute.

Dr. Evelyn Lewis&Clark is leading the charge in developing our Research Signature Program and has had a series of meetings through the summer to solidify the direction we will go. As we seek out Board of Trustee candidates for the coming year, those with research skills and interest will be highly sought out by our Board as this Signature Program may be the hardest one to develop of the three.

The Annual Donor Recognition Dinner was a great event celebrating these programs. Enjoy these photos from our evening at the Seawell Grand Ballroom at the Denver Performing Arts Center. 

DIVERSITY
The Board of Trustees has entirely re-envisioned what "board diversity" means following our excellent diversity education sessions at the spring board meeting. Our Diversity Enhancement Work Group has worked over the summer to prepare for changes we can make to affect this fall's selection process for 2016 Trustees and to set an agenda of work for 2016. We have reached out to our friends in the AAFP's NCCL (National Conference of Constituency Leaders) groups as well as other national organizations like the National Hispanic Medical Association to seek out the best and the brightest of diverse backgrounds AND strong Family Medicine skill sets.

During my address as Foundation President to the AAFP Congress of Delegates, I signaled our desire to enhance the diversity of our Board and we were immediately rewarded with several interested members seeking application materials. How the Foundation manages its diversity in the next couple of years promises to be the biggest game-changer we'll see for our donor pool and our programming effectiveness. Stay tuned. If you, or someone you know, can bring diversity to our board (racial and ethnic diversity, but also diversity from other underrepresented groups AND with diverse backgrounds in our three mission-driven areas of humanitarian work, education, and research) please reach out to Phyllis Naragon or Brenda Cherpitel to find out more.

THE FAMILY OF FAMILY MEDICINE
It has been my observation that historically, the Foundation has felt a little bit like it sat at the "kiddie table" during the Thanksgiving feast of the various family medicine organizations. As I approach the completion of my term as Foundation President, I have seen quite a change in our culture in this area. Our programming has expanded in depth and quality as we have focused on the development of our signature programs. Since the addition of Public Trustees (trustees from outside of the formal "house of medicine") our worldview has expanded and we've incorporated concepts from other industries. We are finding more and more interest in our activities from the leadership of other family medicine organizations and are feeling emboldened to take a look at other primary care organizations from whom we can partner for stronger mutual support. Finally, the Foundation has positioned its own leaders well within the organizational structure of FMAHealth - keeping our philanthropic principles well-attended to in their strategic planning processes.

Can it be long before a physician who has STARTED their leadership involvement in the Foundation is leveraging that experience for greater leadership on the Academy side of the equation? Which of the organizations in the family of family medicine couldn't be stronger with the leadership of those individuals whose organizational upbringing started with the Foundation? I see the day coming when the AAFP President will proudly be a Past President of our AAFP Foundation instead of the other way around.

Our VIP event at FMX sold out this year. It was a who's who of our donors including an ever-increasing number of family medicine leaders who are seeing our event as the "must-attend" event to finish off their week of meetings. Enjoy these photos from our evening of fine dining and enjoyment in the Boettcher Concert Hall with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra.


This last week in Denver has been a marvelous opportunity to network with our Foundation officers, staff, corporate partners, and trustees. Our Foundation truly is rising in strength, wisdom, and capacity to achieve the goals of our mission statement. I hope that each of you examines your own relationship with the Foundation and commits to strengthening that relationship in the coming years. Good things lie ahead and we want you to be a part of it! 

President's Desk: Jason Marker, MD, FAAFP

Heart to Heart International (HHI) recently held its inaugural Compassion Gala and selected the AAFP Foundation to receive its first "Heart for Humanity" award. During a very special evening, the Foundation was recognized before a sold-out crowd in Kansas City complete with a video featuring Dr. Dan and Ruth Ostergaard and Craig Doane as well as the leadership of HHI talking about the importance of this partnership.

The AAFP Foundation received this award because of our continued humanitarian efforts with HHI through Family Medicine Cares International and our disaster relief efforts.  

Family Medicine Cares International delivers patient care and provides medical education and resources for people in need around the world. Currently focused in Haiti, the program also works to improve the lives and health of children by providing essential personal, medical, and educational items to schools in this impoverished country.  Make sure to keep reading for more info.  Please consider helping to continue the good work of your AAFP Foundation in Haiti.

Disaster Relief is critical in times of crisis like the recent natural disaster in Nepal.  As people struggle to make their way out of such a devastating tragedy we are able to be part of the solution through our in-country partners like HHI and International Medical Corps.  Please consider being part of this effort with us and making a donation for disaster relief.

Below is a reprint of my acceptance remarks during the Compassion Gala:
 

Thank you!

The American Academy of Family Physicians represents over 120,000 family physicians, family medicine residents, and medical students. Each of these servant leaders has a heart for humanity and they live out that mission every day through the intimacy of the doctor-patient relationship - creating better health one patient visit at a time.

Family physicians know that the power of one encounter is the power to change a whole community, which can in turn change a whole state and ultimately improve the health of our whole nation.

The AAFP Foundation is whole-heartedly behind that domestic agenda and supports the development of free medical clinics in every state, creates opportunities for high-quality family medicine research and funds a myriad of student and resident programs.

Early in the history of the Foundation, however, we saw a need to help fulfill a deep yearning that many family physicians feel to reach outside our borders and to give from our abundance to help support those less endowed with medical resources than ourselves. Projects on that scale, when done well, require the right partnerships. Heart to Heart has been that long-term partner who, as Ms. Moritz stated a moment ago, has helped us make the impossible, possible.

Heart to Heart's model of sustainable support and your respect for the value of the existing local healthcare resources mirrors our own beliefs about medical missions. Additionally, the flexibility you've shown as we've tried to enlarge your vision of how the specialty of family medicine can impact another country's health delivery system is to be applauded.

Though some may still only know Heart to Heart as a rapid response disaster relief organization, the AAFP Foundation has been blessed to watch you develop a rich organizational understanding of the value of long-term relationships - relationships that are built one patient visit at a time. Relationships that can change whole nations of people. Relationships, and professional partnerships, that can improve the health of the world.

On behalf of the American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation, the leaders and membership of the AAFP, Mr. Craig Doane our Executive Director, and our professional and capable support team led by Brenda Cherpitel and Erin Heffernan, I offer our sincere and humble "thank you" for this recognition of our work - a work we would not have wanted to do without you.

May God bless you and may God bless His work that our organizations will do together in the future.

Thank you again.

As if that didn't make for an exciting enough weekend, I was able to arrive in Kansas City with my wife in time to address the AAFP staff at the "Walk for the Children of Haiti" event. This annual fundraiser, done in conjunction with AAFP Wellness Committee activities, raised over $6,800 for our children's projects in Haiti! It is through donations like this that we were able to have the following achieved:

• Provided a much needed water pump for one of the schools so the children can access safe drinking water during school hours.
• Constructed a security fence around a primary school that helps keep the children safe.
• Painted walls and tiled floors at several schools.

Please consider helping us continue this work! 

I will depart for Kansas City on Thursday this week (my 3rd week in a row!) for our Foundation Board of Trustees meeting. I just bet I'll have some more exciting things to post on this site by the time that's over. Stay tuned!!

Jason

President's Desk: Jason Marker, MD, FAAFP

Welcome to my first blog post as your 2015 President of the American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation! Some of you just got here from a link in an email about a “President’s Update” – thanks for following that link. Others of you found your way here on your own. Either way, I am pleased to share some brief information about what I see shaping up for 2015.

First off, social media. Here is the information you need about accessing our Facebook page and Twitter feed.

Please “like us” and follow these sites as they will be updated regularly (but I promise not obsessively) throughout the year with information about the Foundation and my activities on its behalf. We have accounts with Instagram and others (even a Foundation Pintrest account!) but I’m over-the-hill technologically speaking (I’m turning 44 this year!) and better stick to the basics. Pinterest, Instagram, Google+, Picasa

For longer exchanges of information, I’ll be using this blog, though we’ll let you know about new posts with a link from an email. If you want to be added to this email list let us know.

As we start the year I want to lay out in broad brush strokes what I think will be the highlights of 2015. There are several, so here they are in tabular form:

• Corporate Roundtable event has been specifically redesigned with corporate feedback in mind to better achieve the goals of information-sharing with these critical partners.
• Our third Family Medicine Cares International trip to Haiti in February (February 21-28) is packed with attendees and will build on past work of community service, patient care, and educational support for that country’s four medical schools and two family medicine residencies.
• We will be launching our super-awesome, action-packed, all-new, this-ain’t-your-grandfather’s, Family Medicine Leads Emerging Leader Institute in the summer. This conference wants to be an innovative two-day leadership skills event, immersing hand-picked medical students and Family Medicine residents in a high-end experience-based opportunity to create new leaders for our specialty. Family Medicine needs more than just a broader pipeline of new physicians, we need a more expansive “leadership pipeline” of creative thinkers - Emerging Leaders who aren’t just thinking outside the box, but who think in ways that ignore that a box ever existed.
• The Foundation will have a robust presence at the first redesigned AAFP annual event, now called the Family Medicine Experience (FMX). This September 29 - October 3 in Denver launches FMX and the Foundation will be found worthy of a place at the table of this new model of “annual meeting”. I’ll hope to see you there.
• The AAFP Foundation will continue its strong leadership within Family Medicine for America’s Health (FMAH) – a strategic plan and communications program for our specialty. AAFP Foundation representatives can be found at all levels of this new entity whose aim is to “re-present” Family Medicine to America as the “must-have” vehicle for better health and as the only possible solution to the ills of the US Healthcare system. I’ll make sure you hear lots more about this as the year progresses.

Well, that’s probably enough for now. My goal is to keep you up-to-date with information about our Foundation and to hope that a tiny bit of my excitement about our future as a specialty rubs off on you. Don’t forget to connect with us on your favorite social media platform! Blessings for a meaningful new year…

Jason Marker, MD, MPA, FAAFP
AAFP President
Private Practice Physician, Wyatt, IN

2013 Family Medicine Cares International Patient Care Team

(L to R) Drs. Julie Anderson, Kim Tjaden, and Denis Chagnon

(L to R) Drs. Michelle Jones, Ainee Ahmed, Dave Smith and Jacobo Rivero

The Patient Care Team took a few moments one morning to take a few quick photos before the group divided up to head out for the day.  Dr. David Smith reflected on his recent experience in Haiti, "My lasting recollection of the February 2013 FMCI delegation trip to Haiti will be that of two groups of people; the people of Haiti who we came to serve, and that of my fellow Patient Care Team members with whom I shared the entire experience."

Dr. Chagnon as the patient..

Dr. Chagnon took some time with the little boy in this photo after having diagnosed his mother with a previously unknown heart murmur and arranged for a cardiology evaluation.  Because of Dr. Chagnon's evaluation the mother was able to avoid hospitalization or worse.

When asked about his experience in Haiti he said it, "truly felt like I was making a difference in the lives of the people of Haiti on this remarkable life experience."

Dr. Smith examining a little boy.

Dr. Smith shared his experience about the people of Haiti and making a difference, "the people of Haiti were clearly in need of assistance, and very appreciative of what services were provided. They faced similar problems that patients face elsewhere in the tropics, but with a fraction of the resources. They do so without complaining, but with a spirit of optimism, acceptance, and gratitude. For some, we were the first physicians they had ever seen. Our Patient Care team was touched by their patience and resolve."

      

Dr. Jones examining a little girl.

Dr. Smith went on to say that, "As team members, we grew together in a manner I had not experienced since residency, decades ago, when faced with the need to practice in a very new, foreign and somewhat unsettling situation. We worked hard during the day at the clinics, and then would share our meals, clinic experiences, long dusty rides, and dormitory space in the evenings."

Dr. Anderson enjoying the kids after well-child exams.

  

Dr. Smith on the overall experience, "I have developed a desire to continue with this sort of medical mission work through Family Medicine Cares International/Heart to Heart International, and a deep appreciation for those physicians I had the pleasure of working with."

Dr. Chagnon on his experience, "The Medical volunteer experience in Haiti with FMCI and Heart to Heart International was a truly remarkable life experience."

2013 FMCI Annual Delegation

Medical Education Team

The Medical Education team spent seven days in Haiti working to directly impact the future of family medicine. The Medical Education team held a day-long symposium in two locations, one in Cap Haitien and one in Port au Prince, to provide specialized continuing education for Haitian doctors and health care providers. The symposium topics focused on cardiovascular disease. The team also held meetings with the two family medicine residency programs in Haiti, the Deans of the four medical schools in Haiti, the Ministry of Health (MSPP), and the U.S. Embassy to discuss the future of Family Medicine. The Medical Education team consisted of the following family physicians and AAFP members (pictured with Dr. Andre Vulcain of the Haiti Project):

• Dr. Mary Jo Welker – Delegation Lead, AAFP Foundation President
• Dr. Anna Doubeni
• Dr. Laura Knobel
• Dr. Evelyn Lewis&Clark – AAFP Foundation Board Trustee
• Dr. William Markle
• Dr. Jane Weida – AAFP Foundation Vice President

Brenda Cherpitel of the AAFP Foundation served as Staff Lead for the Medical Education team and the Family Medicine Cares International program.

Patient Care Team

The Patient Care team spent their time in Haiti treating more than 600 patients from two weeks to 92 years of age. They worked at five different clinics and an orphanage throughout the region and saw a number of conditions. They were able to see over 100 children one of the days for well-child exams. This is not something that normally happens in Haiti and was considered very rewarding for all involved. The physicians were able to treat a number of patients that had been seen previously at the clinics and were impressed by the continuity of care that they were able to achieve in such remote locations. The Patient Care team consisted of the following family physicians and AAFP members:

•  Dr. Ainee Ahmed
• Dr. Julie Anderson
• Dr. Denis Chagnon
• Dr. Michelle Jones – AAFP Foundation Board Trustee
• Dr. Jacobo Rivero
• Dr. Dave Smith
• Dr. Kimberly Tjaden 

Service Team

The Service Team spent their time in Haiti giving back to its smallest voices at the Rose Mina Orphanage and the Fondwa Orphange and School. While they were working at Rose Mina they were able to paint the facility a cheerful yellow, inspect the recently completed dining room and renovated bathrooms funded by the AAFP Foundation, provide food, vitamins and other basic necessities to the children. The entire Delegation hosted a lunch and party for the children with treat bags, balloons, soccer balls, and fun all around!

The Service Team also drove to Fondwa Orphanage and School to visit the children, deliver clothing and soccer balls, and see the kitchen renovation project which was funded by the AAFP Staff.

This group also helped out at the Bel Air Clinic by completing improvements to the clinic facilities such as painting and staining the remodeled triage area, the new enclosed pharmacy area, and improved bathroom facilities. All projects were funded by the AAFP Foundation. The Service Team consisted of the following individuals:

• Lloyd Welker – Volunteer Lead
• Douglas MacLean, CEO, Pharmavite
• Haley Maclean
• Taylor MacLean
• Christen Moburg, Associate Director, Advocacy, MedImmune
• Karen Smith

Lori Foley of the AAFP Foundation served as Staff Lead for the Team.

  

Make a Donation

If you would like to be part of this rewarding work in Haiti, please consider making a donation. Through your donation to Family Medicine Cares International, you are making a difference in helping those in need, at home and around the world.