FUTURE: A student’s day of hands-on learning, leadership

7 a.m. - FMIG Awards

I started my morning with free breakfast and an awards ceremony for family medicine interest groups. The AAFP recognized and congratulated innovative FMIGs from around the country, and our program at ETSU won a 2025 Program of Excellence Award! We also learned about the programs that the AAFP Foundation offers and heard inspiring words from Academy leaders.

9 a.m. - FMOB Bootcamp 

I went to the FMOB procedures workshop led by family physicians from the Mayo Clinic. Using creative models, we learned to place intrauterine catheters, suture lacerations, perform a cervical check, and manage post-partum hemorrhage. This was a great way to get exposure to OB procedures that we may not have the opportunity to perform as students. Nailing down these skills in a low-risk setting will prepare me better for these situations during residency!

10:30 a.m. - MSK Ultrasound Workshop

At the musculoskeletal ultrasound workshop, we learned about the different views of the shoulder, including the best techniques to easily obtain views needed to assess injuries. As someone who loves anatomy, getting to visualize all the ligaments and muscles and how they move was super cool.

11:45 a.m. - Lunch

I met up with my ETSU folks for lunch. I got an amazing Aloha bowl (chicken, rice and pineapple teriyaki sauce) from one of the food trucks and was able to catch up with everyone on how their mornings had gone. We’d all been busy attending various sessions on topics like women’s care, imaging and residency preparedness.

1 p.m. - Family Medicine Leads 

I said goodbye to my friends and headed to the Family Medicine Leads Emerging Leader Institute awards presentation. Each year, a new cohort of ELI scholars create yearlong projects with guidance from family medicine mentors in one of three tracks: policy and public health leadership; personal and practice leadership; and  philanthropic &and mission driven leadership.

The topics covered by the winners were astounding. We learned about the creation of a Texas Pregnancy Medicaid Toolkit, assessing medical student barriers to accessing primary care, and training within a residency program to better prepare residents to practice street medicine. 

It was inspiring to see all of the projects students and residents had intentionally poured their hearts into. Their passion for the improvement in their communities was palpable, and I'm excited to see what my group of scholars achieves in the next year.

2 p.m. - ELI posters

After the awards session and formal presentations, we moved next door to the ELI poster presentations. Posters from numerous scholars were exhibited and further exemplified the hard work participants had put into their projects. From community outreach to national health, this cohort of scholars has shown their commitment to the betterment of health care.

2:30 p.m. - Expo Hall

It was time for my favorite part of every conference: the Expo Hall. Hundreds of family medicine residency programs from every corner of the country were present to show off their unique offerings and characteristics. As someone with a strong desire to continue pursuing leadership within the AAFP, this served as a great opportunity to glean how programs can best support their residents as they grow as future leaders and advocates for their communities.

I would be lying if I didn't say the soft serve from One Medical wasn't a highlight of my journey.