During a system upgrade from Friday, Dec. 5, through Sunday, Dec. 7, the AAFP website will be unavailable.
Know Before You Go
Prepare for your best conference.
Get Ready for FUTURE
This is your chance to grow your skillset, make valuable connections and gain inspiration from specialty leaders. It’s natural to feel overwhelmed with so much happening at one event, but you can make the most of this important experience with proper planning.
Review the Schedule
Identify sessions, speakers and networking events you don’t want to miss.
Peruse the Expo Hall
Note which residency programs and organizations you want to meet.
Review FAQs
Get all your questions answered on our FAQ webpage.
Check in with Your Peers
Need a dinner companion or running buddy? Chat with other attendees via our GroupMe.
Make Reservations
Take advantage of your trip to Kansas City by making restaurant reservations or saving info for museums, shops and other local haunts you want to hit up.
Speakers offer sneak peek at their FUTURE workshops
(And why FUTURE is a great opportunity for YOU to attend to explore family medicine.)
- Choose sessions strategically. Review the conference schedule in advance and save sessions that resonate with your interests and goals.
- Diversify your schedule. Explore a mix of session types and formats, such as keynote speeches, panel discussions, workshops and interactive sessions. Variety can provide different perspectives and learning experiences.
- Try various note-taking techniques:
- Traditional: Sequential and linear
- Mind Maps: Start with a central topic at the center and branch out with related subtopics. Use colors, symbols and images to make connections between different ideas.
- Cornell Method: Divide the page into three sections—a narrow left-hand column, a wider right-hand column and a bottom section. In the main right-hand column, jot down key points and ideas. Use the left-hand column for cues or prompts summarizing the main points and the bottom section to translate the session or write down questions and reflections.
- Concept Maps: Like Mind Maps, these are focused on organizing complex relationships between ideas or concepts. Use labels or brief descriptions to identify those relationships.
- Sketching: Create visual representations of concepts, processes or relationships discussed during sessions.
- Use highlighters or colored pens/pencils. Use color to emphasize key points in your notes.
- Draw diagrams, charts or graphs. Annotate them with additional details or explanations.
- Record important segments of the sessions to refer to later. Ask permission to record first.
- Use sticky tabs. Mark important sections or key pages in your notebook or program guide.
Prep for Residency Visits
What should you expect when you visit a program’s booth? At each one, you’ll see the friendly faces of program representatives. Reps are typically current staff, residents and faculty, including program directors. These are the same people you’ll meet during interviews, but these interactions are much more casual.
It’s not unusual to chat with a program for 30 minutes or stop by multiple times. Just allow yourself enough time to have meaningful conversations with the programs that interest you.
Looking to make a good impression? Bring a positive attitude and curiosity.
Here are some steps to get you ready:
- Ahead of time: Think about what you want out of a residency program.
- Jot down the questions you need to ask to find your perfect fit.
- On-site: List out the programs you want to meet using the Expo Hall map.
Still Exploring Family Medicine?
FUTURE is for you. With workshops designed to help you succeed in med school, you’ll have no problem getting a clearer picture of your future in medicine. Attend sessions focused on clinical skills, leadership development, career planning and more.
Our NEW Thriving in Med School Track allows you to thrive in school, no matter the specialty. If you want to dive deeper into fam med, we can’t recommend Friday’s Main Stage enough.
Also Friday: Live Podcast - When (and How) I Knew Family Medicine was for Me (3:45–4:45 p.m.) will feature a real, rapid-fire conversation between family physicians. They’ll reflect on the interests, values and skills that led them to choose this specialty.
Our programming is designed to not only help you discover what makes family medicine so great, but also which specialty would ultimately be the right fit for you. Our sessions are geared toward helping med students succeed in med school, no matter the specialty and stage.
Here’s what Austen Ott and Kate Tian, MD, the 2025 Student and Resident Chairs, say about their impactful time at FUTURE:
Austen: “I get so excited when I meet or collaborate with other students who are excited about family medicine.”
Dr. Tian: “You never know at what point you're going to be inspired. It could be at a talk, it could be Main Stage, or it could be a random conversation at a residency booth.”
No. You can store your bags for free in the 2200 Lobby so you can head straight to the airport from the conference.
No, the event will be in person only.
That’s completely up to you! You may have just come from the airport, so your travel clothes are fine. Sure, this is your first time meeting some of your peers, but you’ll be more at ease if you’re comfortable. People wear everything from a suit and tie to scrubs.
The conference will take place at the Kansas City Convention Center. The address is 301 W. 13th Street, Kansas City, MO 64105.
Family members are not allowed on the Expo Hall floor or in any of the workshops. This provides our attendees with the most robust experience possible. We realize attending is a family decision, and we want your support system to be present, so know there’s plenty to do in Kansas City if you want to make a family trip out of it.
This year, celebrate unlocking your potential by dressing in your most dramatic masquerade looks and dancing the night away. If themes aren’t your thing, dress in what makes you comfortable. Round up your friends and take a picture in the interactive photo booth, eat snacks and get fun giveaways. It’ll be a night to remember!
Head to Registration. There, you’ll get everything you need to have the best experience.
Here are the must-haves: something to take notes (pen and paper, tablet, etc.), a snack, water, a sweater in case you get chilly, and anything else you feel you might need to have the best conference possible.
You can, but you’ll see a difference in price. That’s why you should register as soon as possible, so you can save money and your spot in our limited-seating workshops.
There’ll be heavy appetizers at Regi-ception on Wednesday evening and at the Expo Hall Grand Opening on Thursday evening.
On both Thursday and Friday, FREE coffee and beverages before and after the keynote speakers will be available.
On Saturday, join us for a FREE Continental Farewell Breakfast 8:30–9:45 a.m.
A variety of food trucks will be on-site both days for food purchases. Additional concessions are available for purchase throughout the Convention Center and Expo Hall.
Ice Breaker Balloons—Get the conversation started with the ice breaker questions on balloons.
Yard Games—Have a little summer fun with yard games.
Coloring Wall—Decompress between sessions by coloring in part of the oversized coloring pages. At the end of NC, you’ll be able to see the finished piece. Use it as a photo op to commemorate your time at FUTURE!
