May 22, 2025
4 reasons for optimism in
difficult times
By Jay-Sheree Akambase, MD, MPH, FAAFP
AAFP Foundation President
Family physicians cope with very real professional and personal challenges. We’re buffeted by world events, as we saw with the pandemic, and frustrated by from workaday concerns about reimbursement rates and administrative burden. But you can't sit in that space. You will lose hope for the future if you don't focus on some of what’s actually going well.
What we need to help us hold on through these times is optimism, which isn’t always easy to find. We need to replenish our stores of optimism so we can give our best to our patients and communities, even when challenges mount. I’m thinking of natural disasters such as this winter’s California fires. I’m thinking of measles outbreaks. I’m thinking of health misinformation.
When I need a reset, I look at the AAFP Foundation. I remember the mentors I’ve had, the mentees I’ve been able to work with, the colleagues. This is how I realign my expectations, reframe my perspective.
I know I’m not the only one who feels this way. So, as I thought about just how to quantify the way the Foundation makes me feel optimistic, I asked some fellow volunteers for their own experiences. Together, we’ve made a list of reasons to stay optimistic through our shared challenges. If reading this inspires you, I encourage you to reignite your optimism by getting involved with the Foundation. We’re family doctors. We’re all in this together.
Hear Jay-Sheree Allen Akambase, M.D., M.P.H., FAAFP, share her inspiring Foundation journey on Inside Family Medicine.
1. The future of our specialty is strong.
We’re supporting the next generation of leaders, and that in itself gives me a lot of hope and optimism. The Emerging Leaders Institute program creates space for voices that are often overlooked—people who have the potential but just haven't had the opportunities. Being able to lift up student and resident scholars who have that potential, and who have the drive to transform family medicine, is super exciting. These are people who aren’t waiting to tackle real problems in medicine. While they are getting foundational skills, they're designing real community interventions and publishing things and bringing their peers along with them. That action-oriented mindset is exciting.
What the scholars have accomplished also makes me optimistic and hopeful. They’re leading with what they do, and when I either help my mentees through their projects or I score other scholars' projects after they turn them in, what stands out is their depth of engagement. They're not just checking a box—they're really building longitudinal efforts about topics that they are very passionate about. The scholars care deeply, and almost every single one of them will say, about their projects, “This is what I'm going to be working on next,” even when they're not part of the program anymore. This is not just a one-time experience for them. It becomes a leadership identity.
Seeing that long-term investment in the future makes me optimistic, and it’s a good reminder of what's possible when people are given the chance to lead.
— Christina Kelly, MD, ELI faculty, mentor and scholarship funder, is based in Annandale, Virginia.
2. Globally, our specialty is a true force for good.
Participating in the Foundation’s Family Medicine Cares International program is my way of giving back to the community, the AAFP Foundation and people who will benefit. It’s an easy choice because the Foundation does such a good job with the logistics and organization of the trips, and because I know that physicians and nonphysician clinicians are coming together to work as a team. We learn from each other, too.
I’ve been involved with the Academy and the Texas AFP right from residency onward. I learned about FMCI when I attended FMX. I’d attended a few of those over the years, but this time I noticed this booth and was interested in doing medical stuff in a different setting. My first two trips were to Haiti, in 2014 and in 2017. Then I went to the Dominican Republic in February of this year. All three were great experiences for me.
Part of what let me come away from the trips with optimism is that I got to solve medical challenges by going back to the roots of my training.
There’s so much contributing to what we see in a place like Haiti: socioeconomic and geopolitical factors. Some if it makes you really scratch your head and ask, ‘Am I really seeing this stuff?’ Beyond common chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension, we’re treating worm infestation and malaria. And in all these cases, we’re working to treat without being able to follow up ourselves, as we would in our own clinics.
So I had to change my mentality, my way of looking at things, and get back to basics. I said, “OK, these are my resources. These are the patients that I'll see. What is the best way? What outcome do I want? What can I do that the patient will comply with and come back for local follow-up?”
While I was doing this, I got to work not only with the coming generation of family physicians but also with midcareer physicians and some who were retired or soon to retire. That's one of the reasons why I signed up: knowing there would be medical students, faculty, a lot of colleagues who come from different areas of experience. Some are graduating from residence. Some are educators or academics. Some have been there for 20 years.
Seeing that wealth of experience inspires me. This is the reason I went into family medicine, and it’s why the Academy and the AAFP Foundation have been family to me since the start of my career. I can see the joy we get when we help people. I get motivation from our work and the joy we get from helping people regardless of age, gender, country. There’s no such satisfaction you can get internally. That keeps me optimistic, and it’s why I do charity work on weekends here in Houston. You have to do something more than your so-called job.
— Sanket Parikh, MD, FAAFP, of Houston, is a veteran of three FMCI delegations who traveled most recently this past February.
Make a difference internationally
Want to be part of the 2026 Family Medicine Cares International delegation? The application window opens June 1 and runs through Aug. 31.
3. Family medicine’s history is a history of good works.
Spending some time in the Center for the History of Family Medicine archives, either digitally or in person, allows you to truly appreciate just how rich our heritage is. I'm not sure if there's another library like it anywhere else in the country, or a similar resource for any other specialty. I don't think the average family physician realizes that this resource is here, that it’s captured and cultivated quite in the way that it is, and traveling to the Center in Kansas City is an eye-opening experience and incredibly rewarding. At the same time, the digital resources—the videos, the oral histories, the seminal documents that are all freely available to access by family physicians or patients—are invaluable.
I’m invigorated whenever I review the archives. It's almost like having a conversation with the founders of the discipline about what their vision was for our future. It renews my excitement about what lies ahead. I come away inspired and optimistic.
It represents our members and their interests but, more important, it represents the roots of our teaching the next generation and supporting care for our patients and our communities.
— Aaron George, DO, of Hagerstown, Maryland, volunteers for the Foundation’s Center for the History of Family Medicine.
4. There’s plenty of room for you to join us.
The Foundation is always in need of more voices, more family medicine expertise. If you’re reading this, you have something to offer. I’m not talking about your money. Yes, of course more funding helps. But beyond that,
the ELI program needs mentors;
our research grants need reviewers; and
the Center for the History of Family Medicine is a living record, which means you can help us chart the future by preserving what you know of our past.
There are so many ways to get involved, and I believe that they all lead you to a place of optimism.
The AAFP Foundation is accepting applications through July 15 to help clinics care for uninsured people with grants for tangible items such as exam tables, EHR systems and medical equipment. The Family Medicine Cares USA program is open to new and existing clinics in the United States. Learn more and apply.
Jay-Sheree Akambase, M.D., M.P.H., FAAFP, is a preventive medicine fellow at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and president of the AAFP Foundation.
Disclaimer
The opinions and views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the opinions and views of the American Academy of Family Physicians. This blog is not intended to provide medical, financial, or legal advice. All comments are moderated and will be removed if they violate our Terms of Use.