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American Academy of Family Physicians Names New Director of Membership

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, March 03, 2008

Contact:
Adam Lee
American Academy of Family Physicians
(800) 274-2237 Ext. 5221
alee@aafp.org

The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) has named Elaine Jastram Conrad, CAE, as the new director of its Membership Division.

As director of the Membership Division, Conrad is responsible for the AAFP’s chapter and member relations functions, and the Office of Governance a new, centralized area that supports the AAFP’s governance structure.

Prior to joining the AAFP, Conrad most recently served as the vice president of Membership and Chapter Relations for Meeting Professionals International, one of the meetings and events industry’s leading professional communities with 68 chapters and nearly 23,000 members worldwide. In that role, Conrad planned and managed programs and campaigns that resulted in a 12 percent increase in membership.

Conrad spent over 30 years at the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), and for 15 of those years served in a variety of senior executive leadership roles. As associate executive director of the ACEP’s Membership Division, Conrad helped increase membership by more than 7 percent. Conrad previously served as associate executive director of Administration with the ACEP.

“The AAFP continues on its trajectory of organizational growth, and our Membership Division is at the heart of our growth strategy,” said Donna Valponi, vice president of Marketing, Membership and Meetings. “Elaine Conrad has a history of successful recruitment throughout her career at non-profit organizations, and I am confident that she is the right person to lead our Membership Division.”

Conrad received her bachelor’s of science in education from Central Michigan University.

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Founded in 1947, the AAFP represents more than 93,000 physicians and medical students nationwide. It is the only medical society devoted solely to primary care.

Nearly one in four of all office visits are made to family physicians. That is 215 million office visits each year – nearly 48 million more than the next medical specialty. Today, family physicians provide the majority of care for America’s underserved and rural populations.

In the increasingly fragmented world of health care where many medical specialties limit their practice to a particular organ, disease, age or sex, family physicians are dedicated to treating the whole person across the full spectrum of ages. Family medicine’s cornerstone is an ongoing, personal patient-physician relationship focused on integrated care.

To learn more about the American Academy of Family Physicians and about the specialty of family medicine, please visit www.aafp.org.

For more information about the AAFP's positions on issues and clinical care and downloadable multi-media on family medicine and health care, visit the AAFP Media Center.

For more information about health care, health conditions, and wellness, please visit familydoctor.org.