2019 AAFP Calendar

Dec. 31, 1980: AAFP membership topped 50,000.

Oct. 9, 1985: Resident observer to the AAFP Board given full voting privileges.

June 9, 1986: In Bowen, Secretary of Health and Human Services, et al. v. Michigan Academy of Family Physicians, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Medicare’s dual fee system that paid family physicians less than other specialists for conducting the same procedures. The AAFP provided a great majority of the funding for the Michigan Academy as it pursued this case through the court system.

June 9, 1988: First meeting of the Subcommittee on Student Interest. Later that year, medical student membership in the AAFP reached 9,666.

Jan. 1, 1989: Began requiring residency completion as a condition for active membership.

Aug. 24-26, 1990: First National Conference of Women, Minority, and New Physicians held (now the National Conference of Constituency Leaders).

Aug. 15, 1992: Guam Chapter chartered, bringing the total number of constituent chapters to 55.

1993: Academy endorses Tar Wars.

Jan. 1, 1993: AAFP acquired the Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics Program from the University of Wisconsin Department of Family Medicine and Practice.

Oct. 1993: First issue of Family Practice Management published.

Oct. 6, 1993: Slotted seats approved for women, minority, and new physician constituencies and delegates seated.

Jan. 1, 1995: AAFP joined forces with American Academy of Pediatrics and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice to develop a new schedule for childhood immunizations, replacing three separate schedules previously recommended by the organizations.

Jan. 1996: Family Medicine becomes the first specialty in America with residency programs in all 50 states.

June 1998: Academy member Nancy Dickey, MD, elected the first female AMA President.

Aug. 1, 2000: Douglas E. Henley, MD, of Fayetteville, NC, became new AAFP Executive Vice President, the first practicing family physician to fill that role.

Oct. 2001: Warren Jones, MD, of Maryland, a captain in the Navy, was installed as the first African American President of the AAFP.

Oct. 2002: Cynthia Romero, MD, approved as the first member of the AAFP to represent new physicians.

Oct. 2004: Mary Frank, MD, of California became the first female president of the AAFP.

June 2005: FamMedPAC, a federal political action committee, launched.

Sept. 27, 2006: Family medicine leaders and practicing physicians converged on Capitol Hill for a rally called Vote for America’s Health.

March 31, 2017: Academy announces formation of the Center for Diversity and Health Equity to address the social determinants of health.

Oct. 13-17, 2020: Academy hosted FMX/Scientific Assembly virtually for the first time due to COVID-19 pandemic.

SOURCE: The Center for the History of Family Medicine

@HEADQUARTERS

Academy Adds Communications and Membership Manager to Staff

The NCAFP is excited to announce the addition of Kevin LaTorre to its headquarters team as the new Manager of Communications and Membership. Kevin joined the staff on Jan. 4, 2023, and oversees the communications messaging and membership support which help the NCAFP improve Family Medicine for every physician and patient in North Carolina. His experience in public relations and healthcare journalism equipped him to begin the role, but he looks forward to perfecting his work with input from his fellow staff, the 75-year

Dr. Andrea DeSantis appointed to AAFP Commission on Federal and State Policy

Andrea DeSantis, DO, a family physician from Charlotte, has been appointed to the AAFP Commission on Federal and State Policy for a two-year term. The Commission on Federal and State Policy informs and guides the Academy’s federal advocacy program and the AAFP’s support for constituent chapters in their advocacy efforts before state governments. Commission members participate in two meetings each year (one in person and one virtual) and ongoing work electronically between meetings. Dr. DeSantis practices at Atrium Health NorthPark Family Medicine in Charlotte. Congratulations to Dr. DeSantis.

Dr. Kevin E. Burroughs Appointed to NC Brain Injury Advisory Council

Recently, Dr. Kevin E. Burroughs, a family physician in Concord, was appointed to the NC Brain Injury Advisory Council by Governor Roy Cooper.

example of the NCAFP, and all the association’s members.

Kevin graduated from the University of North Carolina with a Master’s in Strategic Communications. He and his wife will welcome their first son this upcoming summer and soon become very, very familiar with family medicine as patients. In his free time, Kevin enjoys reading, hiking, and listening to music no younger than 40 years old.

If you missed our 2022 NCAFP Annual Meeting, then you must listen to this podcast. And even if you attended, it’s worth a listen again as outgoing President Dr. Dimitrios (Takie) Hondros provides the 2022 State of the Academy Address during our Annual Awards Luncheon. Dr. Hondros outlines the many accomplishments of the NCAFP throughout the last year.

You can listen to the podcast by clicking here, going to the NCAFP website at www.ncafp.com or by subscribing to NCFM Today on Spotify, on the Google Store, on the Apple Store, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Physician Advocacy Is a Team Sport

By: Jason Newton, General Counsel, Curi

Many times, advocacy efforts within the medical malpractice sphere can feel like an uphill battle.

The reality is that plaintiffs’ attorneys are arguably better networked, more motivated, and more successful at seeking change and maintaining a landscape favorable to them than the more fragmented “defense” industry. Simply put, plaintiffs’ lawyers don’t sleep on advocating for their own economic interests.

It never fails to seem as though any improvement that appears to favor physicians, keep insurance costs down, or keep evidence in cases “fair,” is subject to being struck down by a trial judge or appellate court if given the chance. Examples of the issues involved include protections around peer review, prohibitions on “phantom” damages (damages that permit plaintiffs to recover the amount “billed,” rather than “paid”), permitting evidence of known risks of procedures and complication rates (even if informed consent is not at issue in the underlying case), or keeping third-party litigation financing in the shadows.

Advocacy for physicians must be a team sport, and oftentimes, getting involved can be a simple task. Advocacy for an individual physician usually includes being a member of the state’s medical society and seeking ways to get informed and involved both for physicians and their office staff. Voting regularly in state and federal elections, particularly in lesser-known judicial elections, is also extremely important for advocacy efforts. Physicians also need to participate in grassroots advocacy when called upon. In a dream state, more doctors would run for office, and more defense lawyers would have an interest in becoming judges.

For Curi, and for myself, advocacy efforts go hand-in-hand with holistically serving doctors in medicine, business, and life as our mission statement promises.

Throughout my daily life, I’m often reminded of what it means to be a strong partner to the community we serve. There’s a convenience store around the corner from me in Raleigh, where Curi is headquartered, that’s been around for decades. Its slogan, permanently emblazoned on its sign, is “Big enough to serve you, small enough to know you.” I often think about that as analogous to Curi’s role in physician advocacy.

In the core states in which Curi operates, we engage with our sweat and equity in advocacy where we can. We aim to provide education to members about elections, we have memberships in state-specific organizations that focus on litigation reform, we lend support to “friend of the court” briefs on issues that impact physicians (even when our own insureds are not involved in the underlying case), and we administer grassroots advocacy tools to our physician owners when circumstances demand it.

It’s a privilege to work for a company that altruistically devotes resources and time to identifying legislative and judicial issues that are important to our members on a regular basis. When we engage in advocacy, it’s not to gain a competitive edge in the market it’s because we view it as table stakes given our company’s mission.

Sometimes it’s a struggle to find partners who share the same outlook. If you are one of our members, please take time to read advocacy information we share with you, and act upon it when you’re so inclined. If you are not currently a Curi member but want to get involved in advocacy efforts, feel free to reach out to me at jason.newton@curi.com. To truly generate change, we need you on to be on the field with us, fighting alongside us on our advocacy team as we work together to protect the medical community.

For more information about Curi or to read more of Curi’s blog content, visit curi.com and blog.curi.com, respectively.

Sights & Scenes from Chapter Events

By Peter Graber NCAFP Communications

Member Awards

How can one family physician rise through the ranks at NC Medicaid, diligently treat STIs through volunteer practice in Buncombe County, earn statewide recognition, and write her first book? Dr. Shannon Dowler just chose to serve anyone and everyone to the best of her abilities. The fruits of her service and career came in pursuit of that first goal.

During the 2022 Winter Family Physicians Weekend, NCAPF Outgoing President Dr. Dimitrios Hondros named Dr. Dowler the 2022 Distinguished Family Physician of the Year. This annual award recognizes a family physician whose career demonstrates an unwavering commitment to their patients, the improved quality of life in their community, and the bedrock ideals of Family Medicine. As the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) at NC Medicaid and Deputy CMO at Health Access in the NC Dept. of Health and Human Services, Dr. Dowler has more than met those standards in serving the state’s patients and physicians during both routine practice and emergency pandemic response – she has far exceeded them.

We had the chance to ask Dr. Dowler about her initial start in Family Medicine, her formative experiences and mentors, and what she’d recommend to anyone just beginning Family Medicine.

NCAFP: What first inspired you to become a family physician?

Dr. Dowler: When I was a premed student, I was torn between vet school and med school and decided to do an internship at the local hospital. In my time in the ER, I was shocked and alarmed by all the people who sought care without health insurance, and by how advanced their conditions were because of their lack of access to care. That experience was transformative and set my desire to become a family doctor with a goal of treating all-comers, regardless of their ability to pay.

NCAFP: Were there any physicians who impacted you and your own practice of medicine?

Dr. Dowler: Maureen Murphy was perhaps my first and most influential family physician mentor. I was still in medical school when I met Maureen, and she took me under her wing. Her openness, complete willingness to be herself, and her passion for Family Medicine were contagious and confirmed that my instincts for Family Medicine had put me on the right track.

NCAFP: Do you have any tips for a medical student or young physician just beginning Family Medicine?

Dr. Dowler: I like to say Family Medicine is the “Choose Your Own Adventure” path in medicine. The beauty of it is in the many pathways you can take – some parallel and some intersecting – and how you can course-correct as life throws things at you. If you are a student who loves all fields of medicine and are agonizing over the “right” choice, then Family Medicine allows you to build, grow, and adapt continuously.

Part 2 of our conversation with Dr. Dowler will appear in the summer issue of The North Carolina Family Physician, where she’ll reflect on her leadership as a physician executive and her role as a public servant.

And remember that book we mentioned? Dr. Dowler’s first book, “Never Too Late: Your Guide to Safer Sex After 60,” will appear (quite naturally) on Valentine’s Day!