Michigan Resident and Student Delegates Pass Resolutions Addressing Administrative Burden, Reproductive Healthcare Education, and Physician-led Team-based Care

AAFP Resident & Student Conference Provides National Stage for Change-makers

More than 3,000 family medicine residents and medical students from across the country convened in Kansas City, MO, July 27-29, for American Academy of Family Physicians’ National Conference—THE largest annual education, networking, and residency-connection forum for family physicians-in-training in the United States.

Among those in attendance were 60 Michigan Academy of Family Physicians (MAFP) members eager to learn, expand their network, and make a mark on family medicine and the association that represents them and their chosen specialty.

“When I first learned about the opportunity to attend the conference in a new role as Resident Alternate Delegate for MAFP, I was thrilled to once again be a part of the family medicine community and proudly represent the state of Michigan, which has become a second home for me during my two-and-a-half-years of residency. Although I have had several leadership experiences in the past, this was a fresh and exciting chance for me to represent MAFP and the Michigan family medicine community at the conference, particularly at the Resident Congress,” said Mohammed Aamir Saiyed, MD, a third-year resident at Central Michigan University Family Medicine Residency in Saginaw.

Dr. Saiyed was part of Michigan’s 2023 conference delegation, appointed by the Family Medicine Foundation of Michigan Board of Trustees to represent the voice of our state’s family medicine residents and medical students. He served alongside Resident Delegate Dr. Eli Benchell Eisman, DO, PhD (Henry Ford Health Family Medicine Residency, Detroit), Student Delegate Sarah Toates (Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine, Rochester), and Student Alternate Delegate Kinsey Vear (University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor), who arrived at the conference from Nome, AK, where she spent the summer doing a family medicine rotation.

The Business of Congress

During business sessions of AAFP’s National Congress of Family Medicine Residents and National Congress of Student Members, Michigan’s delegates proposed solutions—in the form of resolutions (ideas for change)—to issues impacting patients and the delivery of care, presented their resolutions before reference committees, served on reference committees that reviewed and provided recommendations to the entire congress, voted on resolutions, and elected national resident and student leaders.

“It was exciting to learn about the process of formal policy-making within the American Academy of Family Physicians, and empowering to know that the AAFP values student and resident voices, experiences, and opinions by incorporating them into the broader mission and work of the entire organization,” said Sarah.

All three of the delegation’s resolution proposals were either adopted as amended or affirmed by their peers.

1. “Administrative Burden, Compensation, and Burnout Mitigation”
   RESOLVED, That the American Academy of Family Physicians recognize asynchronous patient care duties as an integral component of comprehensive patient care, and that American Academy of Family Physicians advocate that asynchronous patient care duties be included as a part of resident duty hours.
   
   
2. “Comprehensive Reproductive Healthcare Education”
   RESOLVED, That the American Academy of Family Physicians provide education about cervical mucus methods, sympto-thermal methods, sympto-hormonal methods, standard days methods and the lactational amenorrhea method of awareness-based fertility through their women’s health continuing medical education (CME) programs, and be it further RESOLVED, That the American Academy of Family Physicians include a link to educational resources about cervical mucus methods, sympto-thermal methods, sympto-hormonal methods, standard days methods and the lactational amenorrhea method of awareness-based fertility on Familydoctor.org.
   
   
3. “Empowering States to Advocate for Physician-led Team-based Care”
   RESOLVED, That the American Academy of Family Physicians draft and publish a statement through its official channels advocating for physician-led health care teams, and opposing the independent practice of non-physicians, and be it further RESOLVED, That the American Academy of Family Physicians make available resources and encourage its chapters to monitor and advocate against the expansion of independent practice of non-physician health care professionals.
   
   RESOLVED, That the American Academy of Family Physicians will advocate for the expansion of existing rural family medicine residencies, and the creation of new rural family medicine residencies.

Second-to-None Experience

“Advocating at the national level and representing all the family medicine residents in Michigan was an honor and a tremendous learning opportunity,” shared Dr. Saiyed.

This year marked the fifth year he has attended AAFP’s National Conference. His prior experiences were as a medical student, AAFP Foundation Emerging Leader Institute (ELI) scholar, ELI project winner, and a resident representative for Central Michigan University Family Medicine Residency. In the latter role, he was a Michigan champion, informing students about the 39 family medicine residency programs in our state and highlighting the diverse extracurricular activities and lifestyle Michigan has to offer.

While wholeheartedly recommending that family medicine residents and medical students attend next year’s National Conference, Aug. 1-3, 2024, Dr. Saiyed shared that the knowledge he gained, connections he established, and the sense of collective purpose further strengthened his dedication to family medicine.

“I eagerly look forward to contributing to its growth and advancement in the future.”

National Conference Opens Doors

Below are additional highlights of Michigan’s representation at the 2023 National Conference of Family Medicine Residents & Medical students.

The “Michigan Aisle” in the expansive Expo Hall featured 18 of our state’s 39 family medicine residency programs. “Participating in the Michigan aisle at the AAFP National Conference is one of the best ways we have found to let students interested in Michigan know where we are located and what we are about. In just two-and-a-half days we talk with over 60 students that have genuine interest in Michigan and our program!” said Nicholas Schenk, MD, director of the ProMedica Family Medicine Residency program in Monroe.

In her role as the Family Medicine Interest Group Network’s Region 3 Coordinator—a position for which she applied and was appointed by the AAFP Board of Directors—Julia McNamara (fourth-year student at Central Michigan University College of Medicine) help lead FMIG programming at the conference.

Julie Ngo, MD, Dayaan Ghani, and Melanie Valentin, MS accepted a Program of Excellence Award from AAFP on behalf of the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine’s Flint FMIG, in recognition of its innovative events during the 2022-2023 academic year that engaged students and promoted the values of family medicine.

Aisha Harris, MD, a direct primary care physician in Flint, rocked the conference main stage as a presenter, sharing her story of how she chose a career in family medicine by way of engineering.

Four research posters were displayed by cohorts from Henry Ford Hospital Family Medicine Residency, Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine, and Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine.

Alyssa Warburton-Silva (University of Michigan Family Medicine Residency), Kelsey Bean (Michigan State University College of Human Medicine), Abby Struble (Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine), and Melanie Valentin, MS (Michigan State University College of Human Medicine) launched their year-long participation in AAFP Foundation’s Family Medicine Leads Emerging Leader Institute.

Seven family medicine residents and medical students from Michigan earned AAFP scholarships to help offset the cost of attending the conference.

MAFP hosted its annual Michigan Reception for medical students interested in training in Michigan to talk informally with residency program directors, faculty, and residents about our #PureMichigan state and programs.

Get Involved

Below are links to where you can learn about getting involved in AAFP’s 2024 National Conference of Family Medicine Residents & Medical Students and beyond.

Michigan Resident & Student Congress Delegate Positions (scholarship included)

Poster Presentation

Family Medicine Leads Emerging Leader Institute

Family Medicine Leads Scholarships

AAFP Leadership Opportunities – applications are currently open for a variety of positions with AAFP and partnering organizations; deadlines range from Aug. 10 through Sept. 7

Family Medicine Interest Groups

Fall Student Conference, Sept. 16

Family Medicine Foundation of Michigan is hosting its tenth annual Michigan Future of Family Medicine Conference & Residency Connection on Saturday, Sept. 16, in Novi. Touted as a mini-National Conference, this state conference for medical students offers hands-on clinical workshops, small group discussions with family physicians about subspecialties within family medicine, and a residency fair with programs from Michigan. Registration is open for students as well as residency program exhibitors and volunteers who would like to talk with students about their areas of expertise/special interest and/or help instruct a clinical workshop. Join us!