Congress of Delegates ‘Goin’ to Kansas City’ Sept. 27-29

(Note that you’ll need to sign in to aafp.org to access the 2021 COD webpages.)

According to a tentative schedule of events, two of this year’s COD’s reference committees ― the Reference Committee on Health of the Public and Science, and Reference Committee on Advocacy ― will hold hearings virtually on Sept. 12, with the remaining reference committees ― the  Reference Committee on Organization and Finance, Reference Committee on Practice Enhancement, and Reference Committee on Education ― convening in-person on Sept. 27.

During each of the hearings, AAFP members will have a chance to share their views on resolutions and reports up for consideration and, thus, help shape new Academy policies. Delegates will vote on those measures during subsequent business sessions. On Sept. 29, the delegates will elect AAFP officers and members of the Board of Directors.

Hear from the director candidates and the candidates for president-elect during a Sept. 28 forum, when they will each outline their respective visions and priorities.

Before then, you can review each candidate’s personal statement and find out more about them ― what they’ve accomplished and what they consider important ― by exploring the 2021 AAFP Candidates webpage.

From there, you can link to each candidate’s individual page, where you can access that candidate’s

• contact information,
• personal campaign statement,
• biography and
• curriculum vitae.

If you find you share common ground with certain candidates on issues that are important to you, your practice and your patients, consider asking your chapter delegates to the COD to vote for those candidates.

In addition, although the AAFP’s Candidate Campaign Activities and Rules document states that candidates for Academy offices may not use official AAFP social media channels ― including, but not limited to, AAFP Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn ― for campaigning purposes, candidates are welcome to use the official COD event hashtag ― #aafpcod ― in any messages sent from their personal Twitter accounts, including campaign messages. Academy members with Twitter accounts can use that COD hashtag to follow campaign activities and other events leading up to the election.

Online registration for this year’s COD is now open; after you’ve registered, be sure to check back for a preview of resolutions submitted.

And don’t forget, as the Congress proceedings wind down, Family Medicine Experience ― again being held virtually this year ― will be ramping up. More information about AAFP FMX, the Academy’s largest annual meeting ― is available online.