Family Medicine Foundation of Michigan Awards FMIG Funding to Advance Family Medicine

Each spring, Family Medicine Foundation of Michigan (FMFM)—Michigan Academy of Family Physicians' philanthropic arm—invites Family Medicine Interest Groups (FMIG) at the state’s medical schools to apply for funding to support activities aimed at increasing student exposure to and interest in the specialty.

Congratulations to the following FMIGs on receiving FMFM funding for the 2023-2024 academic year:

• Michigan State University College of Human Medicine – East Lansing
• Michigan State University College of Human Medicine – Grand Rapids
• Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine
• University of Michigan Medical School
• Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine

The FMIGs plan to use the funding for hosting events, such as:

• Clinical workshops (e.g., suturing, IUD insertion, joint injection, dermatology)
• Panel discussions with family physicians on different practice types
• Educational seminars on different clinical topics
• Volunteering at free clinics, homeless shelters
• Pre- and post-Match guidance
• Film screening and discussion
• Community-building through mentorship

FMIG Funding Makes a Difference

“The funding from the [Family Medicine Foundation of Michigan] was vital to our functioning as an organization this past year. As we all know, medical students are super busy, so to get them excited about coming to events, we usually need food or some other kind of incentive. Because of the MAFP funding for food and supplies, we were able to hold numerous educational events, as well as several events to expose people to what family med has to offer and increase interactions with family medicine physicians at U-M. At every educational session that we held, students expressed gratitude to be learning some of the basics from family doctors. Students were consistently very engaged at these sessions, asking questions and getting hands-on experience. Moreover, at every event I can think of, at least one student said something along the lines of, "I had no idea family doctors could do this!" At some of our wellness and social events, students remarked at how nice it was to interact with family doctors because they get so little exposure to them during the first couple years of medical school.” ~ University of Michigan Medical School FMIG Leader

“The funding really helped our FMIG host a greater variety of family medicine events and more events in person. Having the funds to buy food for some of our early events definitely encouraged more students to attend the physician panels/skills events that were in person. For example, the physician subspecialty panel hosted in September had over 50 students that attended in person and there were another 10-15 who logged on Zoom to listen. Feedback from students were they ‘never realized how many career opportunities there are within family medicine’ and they ‘definitely want to attend more FMIG events to learn more about careers in Family Medicine.’ The funding also helped us to do several community service (e.g. blanket making for a local shelter) and health education (e.g. two health fairs) in which we had students from all classes to participate and learn about family physician involvement.” ~ Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine FMIG Leader

Family Physicians Can Support FMIGs

Family Medicine Foundation of Michigan invites MAFP members to support the work of FMIGs by:

• Donating to Family Medicine Foundation of Michigan – proceeds are used to invest in student and resident initiatives, including FMIGs as well as medical student externships and student/resident event scholarships
• Sign Up for the MAFP Speakers Bureau – let us know of an area of expertise/subspecialty you would like to talk about with medical students at local FMIG events or residents at didactic sessions. To do this:
  • Go to MAFP's website at mafp.com and click the Member Login button at the top right corner; log in with your MAFP username (email address) and password
  • Click on My MAFP Profile followed by the blue Edit Profile button
  • Scroll to the bottom of the screen and key in your area(s) of expertise/subspecialties within the Speakers Bureau field