November 2001 • POST-ASSEMBLY EDITION
AAFP leaders, Congress urge new roles for FPs -- both at home and abroad
There's no arguing with the obvious, said AAFP leaders during this year's Congress of Delegates Oct. 1 3 in Atlanta: It's a new world out there, and the roles of family physicians must evolve accordingly.
"The rules have all changed," said (then) President Richard Roberts, M.D., J.D., of Madison, Wis., in his opening address to the Congress. "The unimaginable can happen; adversaries can become allies. Great things are possible so long as we are not afraid to step forward into the world and invest in our future."
Following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, family doctors and others from around the world sent letters of condolence to the Academy. "The emotions they (the messages) express convince me that our hurt is a global hurt," said Roberts. "They reinforce my belief that we Americans must be even more engaged in the world community."
He recommended that AAFP develop a comprehensive strategy for international activities -- a proposal that received the delegates' full blessing. Accordingly, the Academy will examine the feasibility of establishing a Committee on International Programs and will coordinate and communicate to members international opportunities for clinical care, research and training.
In his opening remarks, (then) President-elect Warren Jones, M.D., of Ridgeland, Miss., considered the issue from a perspective a little closer to home. The United States is not immune to a terrorist attack with chemical or biological weapons, he said, and the nation's FPs must know how to respond.
"We can no longer exclude ourselves from this process," said Jones. "Family physicians must be involved not only in the execution of community-based, mass casualty disaster response, but in chemical and biological agent surveillance planning."
The AAFP Web site provides links to numerous resources on biochemical terrorism and disaster preparedness, including CME opportunities and a CDC health advisory. Go to http://www.aafp.org/resources/ to view that listing.
A new listserv offers Academy members an opportunity to share information and resources on bioterrorism and related issues. To sign up, go to http://www.aafp.org/members/ lyris , click on the link for the bioterrorism list, and follow the instructions.
Jones recommended a three-pronged approach, which the Congress referred to the board:
- Collaborate with other family medicine organizations to develop a core set of knowledge, skill and ability levels for FPs in casualty management, disaster response and bio-chemical exposure surveillance.
- Encourage ongoing inclusion of these elements into family practice residency curricula and CME activities.
- Work with constituent chapters and other agencies to develop roles for FPs in disaster response plans.
A key component of fostering FPs' ability to respond to bioterrorism will be CME programming to familiarize them with the likely causative agents and treatment options. Delegates called for just that by adopting a resolution that directs AAFP to "develop and dispense accurate, timely and current information to prepare family physicians for dealing with known and potential terrorist attacks."
In addition, a Board report filed by the Congress outlines both short- and long-term
strategies to bring AAFP members up to speed on bioterrorism and to give them a voice in national policy-making and planning processes:
- Connect FPs on medicine's "front lines" with agencies already addressing this issue.
- Contact the AMA to explore opportunities for information resource-sharing.
- Distribute a needs assessment survey to 1,000 randomly selected AAFP members to determine how to proceed in the long term, with results going to the Board by January 2002.
FP Report is published by the AAFP News Department.
Copyright © 2001 by American Academy of Family Physicians.
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