Learn More About Congresses

The resident and student congresses meet during National Conference. These sessions provide a unique leadership forum for residents and students to discuss major concerns and influence AAFP policies, programs, and services. It's hands-on leader training.

The official names are the National Congress of Family Medicine Residents (NCFMR) and the National Congress of Student Members (NCSM). These bodies were created more than 35 years ago as the official voices of residents and students in the AAFP. Through these forums, resident and student members elect their national officers and advocate for a wide variety of issues and causes. Many of the initiatives launched by residents and students are now AAFP policy. Many family medicine leaders got their start in the resident and student congresses.

Congress sessions are open to anyone registered for National Conference. To speak to and vote on recommendations before your congress, you must be a resident or student member of the AAFP. To vote in elections, you must be a chapter delegate.

AAFP constituent chapters send one student member and one resident member to serve as chapter delegates to the resident and student congresses. These delegates attend all congress sessions, poll their state delegations about issues before the congresses, and vote in the elections. If you are interested in serving as a delegate (or alternate delegate) to your congress, contact your chapter executive. Find your constituent chapter.

Learn how you can:

Each congress holds three sessions. (View the Schedule of Events.) During these sessions and related activities, you will:

Resolution writing is a great way to fine-tune your advocacy skills. A resolution begins with an idea and develops into a formal proposal or recommendation. It may express a belief or call for specific action, and it includes a series of statements explaining the reasons for the resolution. A resolution may have a single author or several authors. The congress discussion groups are ideal forums for generating resolutions. Check out Resolution Writing in a Nutshell (4-page PDF file; About PDFs) for more details.

A key action of the congresses is the election of the resident and student AAFP board members, National Conference chairs, delegates to the AAFP Congress of Delegates, national coordinator for the Family Medicine Interest Group (FMIG) Network, and representatives to the boards of the AAFP Foundation, Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors, and Society of Teachers of Family Medicine.

If you decide to run, enlist someone to nominate you during one of the congress sessions. You will have access to a computer to complete the application form, your CV, and letter of interest (if you did not bring these items with you). On Saturday, you will make a brief speech during the candidates' forum.

Learn more about elected positions and other leadership opportunities.

Note: If you run for the AAFP board position, conference chair, national delegate, or FMIG national coordinator, be prepared, if elected, to attend a special orientation session on Saturday afternoon, July 28.