N.C. Residency Program Gives FamMedPAC First Donation of its Kind

The AAFP's political action committee, FamMedPAC, recently received its first donation from a family medicine residency program, and the program's director challenged other family medicine residency programs to follow his residency's example.

Cabarrus Family Medicine Residency Program, or CFMRP, in Concord, N.C., gave FamMedPAC a contribution of $520 that it had collected in $10 to $100 increments from all of its 22 residents.

"We have very little time in our day-to-day lives to advocate for family medicine's legislative agenda, which is why we need (FamMedPAC)," said Mark Robinson, M.D., program director for CFMRP. "Family physicians are servant-leaders. We are in the primary care trenches, and we are doing the work that needs to be done. But there is only so much energy and time left at the end of the day."

Robinson asked each of the residents in the CFMRP to contribute to FamMedPAC as a way of honoring Allen Dobson, M.D., of Mount Pleasant, N.C., the CEO of CFMRP, who last fall received the AAFP's 2007 Public Health Award.

All of the CFMRP residents contributed to the fund, each donating between $10 and $100. While each individual contribution may not seem like a huge amount of money, said Robinson, it's significant nonetheless. "They are residents -- they have enormous student loans," he said. "It is not so much the amount I am interested in, it is the percentage."

"This shows that our members, particularly our residents, understand the political world and the political necessity of having a (political action committee)," said Mark Cribben, J.D., director of FamMedPAC.

Launched in June 2005, FamMedPAC is the nation's only political action committee solely dedicated to promoting the viewpoints of family physicians and family medicine.

"I would love to say a year from now, 50 percent of family residency programs in the country have made a donation to FamMedPAC," said Robinson. "This is a great way to honor someone you value. It also galvanizes people and gives you a reason to give."