Delegates to 2008 NCSC Choose New Leaders, Tackle Representation Issue

AAFP constituent chapter representatives who attended the Academy's National Conference of Special Constituencies, or NCSC, here May 1-3 elected colleagues to fill various leadership positions.

AAFP Board of Directors new physician member candidate: Jason Dees, D.O., of New Albany, Miss. (Note: This candidate is to be approved by the 2008 Congress of Delegates.)

New physician alternate delegates to the AAFP Congress of Delegates: Lesca Hadley, M.D., of Cleburne, Texas; and Marc Price, D.O., of Mechanicville, N.Y.

Special constituency alternate delegates to the AAFP Congress: Jay Lee, M.D., M.P.H., of Santa Ana, Calif.; Andres Leone, M.D., of Columbia, S.C.; Mark McLoney, M.D., of Berea, Ohio; Faozan Narvel, M.D., of Columbus, Ohio; Victoria Smith, M.D., of Kenner, La.; and Jane Williams-Vale, M.D., of Wilmington, Mass. (Note: The special constituency delegates and alternate delegates represent the following constituency groups: women physicians; minority physicians; gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender -- or GLBT -- physicians; and international medical graduates.)

AAFP delegates to the AMA Young Physicians Section: Kisha Davis, M.D., of Ellicott City, Md.; and Hannah Farquharson, M.D., of Watsonville, Calif. (Note: This represents a change from previous years, in which one delegate and one alternate delegate were elected.)

Overall, 37 candidates ran for office during this year's NCSC, a significant percentage of the approximately 150 individuals who attended the conference. Of that total, about 45 were first-time participants.

In addition, NCSC delegates considered some 51 resolutions, including one measure that proposed removing an existing sunset provision for the special constituency delegate and alternate delegate seats in the AAFP Congress of Delegates. Under the current AAFP Bylaws, these seats are set to expire at the conclusion of the 2010 Congress of Delegates.

Pointing to the growing diversity of both the U.S. population and the family physician workforce, the authors of the resolution argued that members of the AAFP special constituency physician groups "remain underrepresented in leadership roles within the Academy." Highlighting the value of those physicians' insights as "ensuring that the Academy as a whole sees and hears the diversity of opinions necessary to allow us to be an effective professional organization," the authors called for repeal of the current Bylaws sunset language and referral of the measure to the AAFP Congress of Delegates.

Testifying May 2 before the Reference Committee on Organization & Finance, Susan Kinast-Porter, M.D., a women physician constituency representative to the NCSC from Monroe, Wis., suggested instead including a date for "re-evaluating goals" in the resolution. Reference committee members apparently agreed, recommending adoption of a substitute resolution stating that the constituencies should "remain in place under the same rules that currently exist in Chapter XI section 2 of the Bylaws until a re-evaluation date in 2020."

NCSC delegates balked at the compromise, however, amending the substitute resolution to reinsert the "no sunset date" provision and sending the measure on to the AAFP Congress. Although some delegates expressed doubt that the Congress would adopt the resolution as worded, Lillian Wu, M.D., of Renton, Wash., a special constituency delegate to the AAFP Congress, said, "We might as well ask for what we want."