FMX 2026 tackles gender pay gap, AI and physician leadership
AAFP EVP and CEO Shawn Martin speaks during a mainstage event at the Family Medicine Experience Oct. 21 in Nashville, Tennessee.
On the same day the AAFP installed a woman president for the third time in three years, the AAFP introduced a new policy targeting gender equity in family medicine compensation.
The announcement on Oct. 21, the first full day of the Family Medicine Experience in Nashville, Tennessee, continued a theme of confidence in a specialty where family physicians can build thriving practices, improve the health of their communities, harness new technology and forge supportive networks.
In a mainstage speech, AAFP EVP and CEO Shawn Martin said women represent nearly half of family physicians and more than half of delegates to the AAFP’s Congress of Delegates.
“Representation is not the same as equity,” Martin said. “Female family physicians earn approximately 16% less than their male colleagues. Over a 30-year career, that disparity could approach $1.8 million or more.”
Alongside the policy, the Academy launched a new hub of resources to help family physicians advocate for equitable compensation.
“We need more than a policy,” Martin said. “We need resources that help family physicians, employers, chapters and health systems to start closing the gap. Our new hub on AAFP.org is the home for research, resources and tools to equip you to advocate for yourself and others, and guides to help health systems make meaningful changes.”
Family physicians won’t have to do it alone. The new policy calls for the AAFP to advance compensation equity through advocacy, education, research, leadership development and collaboration with physicians, employers, educators, policymakers and the broader health care system.
“The AAFP believes physicians performing substantially similar work should be compensated according to objective, job-related factors—not gender,” Martin said.
New AAFP president calls on family physicians to embrace leadership
AAFP President Kisha Davis, MD, MPH, FAAFP, speaks at FMX Oct. 21 in Nashville.
During the same mainstage event, Kisha Davis, MD, MPH, FAAFP, was introduced as the new AAFP president after being installed earlier in the day near the conclusion of the Congress of Delegates. Davis, the eighth woman president and fifth Black president in the Academy’s 79-year history, said in her inaugural speech at FMX that family physicians must make themselves heard in state capitols and leadership meetings.
“Decisions are being made every day about our patients, our practices, our communities and our futures” Dr. Davis said. “And family physicians need to be in those rooms. Who knows better about how to care for patients in the context of their life, their family, their community? We are comfortable in the exam room, but we must also be comfortable at the board table, in the halls of leadership and helping make the hard decision.”
Mae Jemison, MD, entrepreneur, engineer, and former NASA astronaut, also spoke during the mainstage event, telling family physicians to prepare for the future and the unexpected.
In addition to numerous clinical sessions and workshops, the first two days of FMX featured plenty of activities with an eye toward the future, and the more than 1,700 residents and new physicians in attendance were among those who took advantage.
AI Hackathon provides opportunity to collaborate and innovate
AI Hackathon participants, from left, John Lynch, MD, MPH, FAAFP, of Phoenix; Subir Guha, MD, FAAFP, of Gallatin, Tennessee; Bhavya Malkar, MD, of Dover, Delaware; Mary Olowere, MBBS, of Bermuda Run, North Carolina; and Susan Dhivianathan, MD, MBBS, of Apex, North Carolina, work on their group project at FMX 2026.
Artificial intelligence was a frequent topic during the Congress of Delegates and also is the subject of multiple CME sessions. On Oct. 20, dozens of family physicians participated in the Academy’s first AI Hackathon, working in teams to develop new tools. Cash prizes will be presented during the Oct. 22 mainstage event for the best ideas presented during the half-day event.
“It was amazing,” said participant Nipa Shah, MD, FAAFP, of Ponte Verde Beach Florida. “The team-based approach allowed us to get to know partners and hear their concerns. I appreciated the helpers who encouraged us as gave us tools. I’m excited to see what the other teams have come up with.”
Dr. Shah worked with resident Rommel Ramesh, MD, of Valdosta, Georgia, and Kanyan Xiao, MD, of Alpharetta, Georgia, on a tool designed to relieve family physicians of the responsibility of evaluating medical assistants by using AI to onboard, evaluate and provide feedback to MAs.
“I’ve been teaching about AI in medicine for six years,” said Dr. Shah, who presented an FMX session on AI in family medicine on Oct. 21. “Working with colleagues enhances the experience because we can share our struggles, use the tools AI has given us and collaborate to do work we couldn’t do on our own.”
Astrud Villareal, MD, FAAFP, vice chair of the AAFP’s Technology Empowered Clinical Optimization Member Interest Group, said AI was the hot topic at the group’s Oct. 21 meeting, which drew several Hackathon participants.
“There were lots of new people with new ideas who we hadn’t heard from on the online platform,” said Dr. Villareal, assistant professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and an associate program director of the UT Southwestern Family Medicine Residency.
Residents find opportunities to learn more at FMX
AAFP Past President Tochi Iroku-Malize, MD, MPH, MBA, FAAFP, (far left) and Sarah Nosal, MD, FAAFP, who was installed as board chair this week, speak with Sinai Chicago residents, from left, Chinwendum Ekpemiro, MD; Rahul Rikhy, MD; Onyi Mejulu, MD; and Prince Agbakahi, MD, during the New Physician and Resident Happy Hour Oct. 20.
Rahul Rikhy, MD, was a physical therapist before realizing he wanted to do more.
“I felt like I had a narrow scope and had to fit in a box as a physical therapist,” Dr. Rikhy said Oct. 20 during the New Physician and Resident Happy Hour at Assembly Food Hall: Skydeck. “As a family physician, I can do something for any patient who comes in.”
Dr. Rikhy is one of eight second-year residents from the Family Medicine Residency Program at Sinai Chicago attending FMX. Every day at the conference, Sinai residents plan to attend workshops and lectures (many of which members can access in FMX on Demand after the conference ends). Dr. Rikhy is focusing his time on sports medicine and musculoskeletal sessions because he plans to apply for sports medicine fellowships.
“I want to reach my full potential,” he said.
Residents and students take leadership roles at Congress of Delegates
Resident and student delegates and alternate delegates pose during the Congress of Delegates Oct. 21. From left to right, they are Disha Bhargava, MD, of Corewell Health - Grand Rapids/Michigan State University; Caleb Duncan, DO, of Charleston Area Medical Center/CAMC Institute for Academic Medicine Program; Maria Reales, MD, of the Central Iowa Health System Program; Claire Namboodri, MD, of the Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center Program; Mary Brown of the East Tennessee State University James H. Quillen College of Medicine; Lauren Hutchinson of the Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine; and Lily Luu of the the University of Washington School of Medicine.
Hundreds of family physicians representing states and territories across the country gathered at the Congress of Delegates Oct. 19-21 to elect leaders and debate policy. Members elected by the AAFP’s student and resident congresses at FUTURE and new physician delegates elected during the National Conference of Constituency Leaders (NCCL) also came to represent their member segments.
“Unfortunately, medicine is political,” said Claire Namboodri, MD, a resident at the Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center Program in North Carolina. “It’s important to stay informed and advocate for our patients and our profession. This is the space to do that.”
Dr. Namboodri was a resident delegate this week and will serve as the resident chair of the 2027 FUTURE conference for students and residents July 30-Aug. 1 in Kansas City, Missouri.
Maria Reales, MD, a resident in the Central Iowa Health System, also served as a resident delegate to the Congress. She got on the leadership path in 2025 when she was elected resident alternate delegate during NCCL.
“I didn’t realize residents had a voice, but the AAFP does want to hear from us,” she said. “I went back to my residency and tried to get more people involved in advocacy because the AAFP has great capacity for us to do so. I want to make the most of these opportunities.”
Third-year resident Kimberly Labella, MD, of the Adventist Health family medicine residency in Hanford, California, speaks Oct. 21 at the Chief Residents Workshop.
About 175 residents gathered Oct. 21 for a two-day workshop that is part of the Chief Residents Leadership Development Program. Kimberly Labella, MD, of the Adventist Health family medicine residency in Hanford, California, was one of the residents who gave short speeches intended to help the residents with public speaking and storytelling.
“It’s a unique experience,” she said. “As a chief, you hear the grievances of other residents and you have to be able to present those to the program director in a way that leads to solutions.”
Come with challenge. Leave with a plan.
The chiefs met this spring in Charleston, South Carolina. Labella said a key takeaway from that meeting was training related to burnout prevention and “how to lead without pouring your stress onto others.”
In between meetings, she said the chiefs were sharing their struggles—and solutions—in a group chat.
“It’s been really helpful,” Dr. Labella said. “If you have questions about something like night float coverage, you can ask what other programs are doing.”
Residents explore jobs and networking opportunities
The Christus Southern New Mexico Family Medicine Residency sent its third-year residents to FMX. In addition to the educational sessions, Himal Panth, MD, took the opportunity to visit recruiters in the massive expo hall when it opened Oct. 21.
“I’m looking for a job with inpatient care,” he said. “It’s also an opportunity to meet people and expand my knowledge base.”