FP Report -- 1999 Post-Assembly Edition
Resident/Student News
FMIG leaders attend Congress
This year, for the first time, the AAFP Board gave 11 student leaders a free ride to the Congress of Delegates. The leaders were the national coordinator and 10 regional coordinators of family medicine interest groups at medical schools.
Their enthusiasm for family practice spreads to local FMIG leaders, who introduce students to the specialty. "The Board appreciates the work you do all year," AAFP Past President Patrick Harr, M.D., of Maryville, Mo., told the FMIG leaders at Assembly. "Bringing you to the Congress is sort of a payback."
Regional coordinator Kerri Harting of Springfield, Ill., had two words for the Congress: passion and family. "The speakers are passionate about what they believe," said Harting. "And we're all one family here." Harting will chair the 2000 National Congress of Student Members.
Leslie Brott of San Antonio, the 1998-99 national coordinator, said she was glad the Congress of Delegates suggested cultural awareness training should be part of the residency curriculum. "I've worked with Hispanic and minority populations for 12-13 years, since way before medical school," she said. "People need to learn about other populations than the one they came from."
"Most students think medical societies focus mainly on regulations and legislation," said Saria Carter of Gainesville, Fla. "But the AAFP Congress was concerned about issues like violence and cultural awareness."
Carter said she headed an FMIG last year because no one else was interested. "I began to realize the voice that students have in the Academy and decided to become more involved," said Carter, the new national FMIG coordinator.
FP Report is published by the AAFP News Department. Copyright © 1999 by American Academy of Family Physicians.
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