 June 2002 • Volume 8 • Number 6 |
More than 150 AAFP members voiced opinions and voted on resolutions at the 2002 National Conference of Special Constituencies, held here April 25 27.
 Networking's half the fun: NCSC delegates relax and talk between sessions. |
The NCSC provided fertile ground for the planting -- and pruning -- of a host of resolutions put forth by the five constituencies: women physicians; minority physicians; new FPs (those in practice seven or fewer years); international medical graduates; and the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender constituency. Here's a sample of this year's work.
GLBT DELEGATES
The gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender constituency should have delegate status in the AAFP Congress of Delegates, said the NCSC participants, voting unanimously for the measure. The resolution, to be considered by the Congress Oct. 14 16 in San Diego, would require amending the AAFP Bylaws, a process that could be completed by the 2003 Congress.
Other resolutions described here will be sent first to the AAFP Board of Directors, which may forward the measures to the Congress for action.
J-1 VISA WAIVER
When the U.S. Department of Agriculture decided in March to end its participation in the J-1 visa waiver program, which allows sponsored foreign physicians to practice in underserved areas, international medical graduates in the Academy were shocked, said IMG participants at the NCSC.
The USDA stated that national security considerations after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were the reason for its decision. However, a few weeks after the March announcement, the USDA reversed its decision and said the program would continue for now.
Dora Saforo, M.D., of Ocean-side, Calif., said in many physician shortage areas, IMGs provide the only access to health care. Defending a resolution the IMG constituency passed, Saforo said, "We want the Academy to support the J-1 visa waiver program in a policy statement to help prevent this (termination of the program) from happening again."
With a J-1 visa waiver, foreign physicians can practice in underserved areas of the country for three to five years. Then they must return to their home country for two years before applying for an immigrant visa, permanent U.S. residency or a nonimmigrant visa.
 Should AAFP keep exploring a combined family medicine/emergency medicine residency? The voice vote was close -- so Anand Shah, M.D., of Long Prairie, Minn., makes sure his hand vote is counted. The resolution passed. |
EQUITABLE LICENSURE CRITERIA FOR IMGs
Several states have different requirements for granting licenses to physicians educated in the U.S. and to IMGs. The IMG constituents want the AAFP to support equitable licensing criteria for all medical school graduates, said Angelo Patsalis, M.D., of Livonia, Mich.
"We know residency graduates who have had to get licenses in states other than the ones they trained in just so they can practice medicine," said Patsalis. "Why? We all get the same training in our residencies."
The group voted for the AAFP to encourage constituent chapters to work with their respective licensing boards to seek equitable criteria for all medical school graduates.
DEMONSTRATING COMPETENCY
The new physicians adopted a resolution asking the Academy to develop the means for family physicians to do two things: self-monitor their practice patterns and document procedures in a way that will help demonstrate competency in areas such as prenatal ultrasound and endoscopy.
MATERNITY CARE SUBCOMMITTEE
NCSC participants sought the creation of an AAFP subcommittee on maternity care issues, including liability, credentialing, training and the development of evidence-based standards. "I have privileges to teach OB at the hospital, but I can't do OB," said Cindy Barter, M.D., of St. Louis, underscoring the need for the resolution. The OB department in her hospital granted her the teaching privileges; she had provided maternity care for eight years before coming to the hospital.
Also supporting the resolution, Lt. Cmdr. Maureen Padden, M.D., of Gig Harbor, Wash., said maternity care is one of the most valuable services she performs in the military. "Active duty military personnel are able to focus on their jobs when they know their wives and children are being taken care of at home," she said.
HEALTH PLAN MEMBERS' MATERIALS
The women physicians voted for the Academy to ask health care plans to use language making it clear to plan members that FPs provide women's and children's health services.
Susan Rife, D.O., from Orland Park, Ill., said her Blue Cross and Blue Shield patients "are told they have to pick an OB-Gyn."
 Leslie Hoy, M.D., of Bayamon, Puerto Rico, a member of the IMG constituency, testifies during NCSC. |
HEALTH CARE DISPARITY
The minority constituency adopted three resolutions on disparity in care. One measure asks the AAFP to investigate underlying factors causing health care disparities. Another urges increased participation of minority physicians in practice-based research. A third requests that the AAFP reaffirm its commitment to educate AAFP members -- physicians, residents and medical students -- on cultural diversity. "We have to educate the future physicians," said James Opara, M.D., of College Place, Wash., discussing the resolution on training in cultural diversity. "This resolution will help address this issue."
SECOND-PARENT ADOPTION
If one partner in a gay or lesbian relationship has adopted a child, the second partner should also be able to gain legal parenthood, the NCSC participants said in a resolution they adopted. Proponents quoted the 2002 American Academy of Pediatrics policy supporting second-parent adoption.
Opposing the resolution, some NCSC participants suggested the studies the AAP used to support its policy were flawed. Other objections included negative feedback the AAP has received and the possibility the AAP might change the policy.
In an interview after the NCSC, AAP Executive Director Joe Sanders, M.D., said, "A growing body of evidence suggests that kids raised in this kind of situation have just as strong a possibility for positive outcomes as do children raised in the 'traditional' family." Sanders has responded to about 100 AAP members who objected to the policy, and 22 members have resigned from AAP (which has 55,000 members) because of the policy, he said.
"We crafted this statement for the children and carefully did not comment on people's lifestyles," Sanders added. "I am unaware of any intention on the part of our board to retract this statement."
DOMESTIC PARTNER BENEFITS
The Academy should support domestic partner benefits, especially health insurance for partners and dependent children, the GLBT constituency voted. The resolution also asked the AAFP to encourage constituent chapters to lobby state lawmakers for legislation recognizing domestic partnerships.
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