Start where you are.  Use what you have.  Do what you can.   -Arthur Ashe (Tennis Champion)

Residency Programs

There is so much going on with IAFP and we want to make sure your residents know all they can do an access as members.  Would you like an IAFP leader to visit your residency program after your new class arrives in July?  Email Ginnie Flynn at gflynn@iafp.com with possible dates/time and she'll work on scheduling a visit for you. 

Editor's Note:  Resident e-News is now it's own publication and no longer combined with Student news.  So now your monthly email update is a little shorter and 100 percent relevant!  

Meet your new Leaders

Resident President - Monica Fudala, MD of University of Chicago/NorthShore joins the IAFP board of directors as the Resident Representative

Resident President-elect Emma Daisy, MD of Northwestern-McGaw will serve as the Illinois Delegate to the AAFP National Congress of Resident Members, and then will join the IAFP board in July 2014.   

Congrats to our AAFP National Conference Scholarship recipients

Alexander Austin, MD  

Olaoluwa Fayanju, MD

Ronak Mehta, MD

AAFP National Conference Poster Presenters from Illinois

Congratulations to the Illinois attendees who are participating in the AAFP National Conference Poster Presentation Competition.  If you are going to the conference, stop by and see them!

Clinical Inquiry:

Rapidly Progressive Encephalopathy in a 49 Year Old Female: Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

Ranga Patri, MD

Community Project:

Active K: Filling a Need for Organized Physical Activity Among Kindergarteners

Katie Lowry and Daniel Sadowski

Research:

Investigation of First Year Medical Students' Career Preferences

Kimberly Clinite and Stephanie Kazantsev

Congratulations on AAFP Award

Mark Rastetter, MD of Chicago was selected to receive a 2013 Pfizer Teacher Development Award based on his scholastic achievement, leadership qualities and dedication to family medicine. He is part-time faculty at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Family Medicine Residency Program.

AAFP Releases SoMe guide for family physicians

OK, you all knew that SoMe is short for Social Media, right?  If social media is already part of your communications repertoire, then think about how you can utilize these tools in your future career communications, too.  All three AAFP Congresses passed resolutions asking AAFP to develop a toolkit for members to guide their foray into social media - and they delivered. 

Link to the AAFP toolkit (15 pages)

AAFP Leadership Opportunities

AAFP student and resident leadership position information for 2013 is now on the Getting Involved in Your Academy section of the AAFP web site. A flier is also provided describing the different elected and appointed positions (member log-in required) and includes a leadership grid that outlines information about each position, including length of term and travel requirements. If you are planning to attend the AAFP National Conference Aug 1-3 or have interests in national leadership involvement start thinking about it now.     Some appointed positions require that interested students and residents to complete and return the application materials to the chapter - for Illinois that's Ginnie Flynn at gflynn@iafp.com. However, if you plan to run for an elected position, your materials (i.e., application, CV, and letters) are due to AAFP by July 12, 2013.

Career Exploration from your Couch

The AAFP CareerLink Virtual Career Fair will be held August 15 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. CDT. Residents can connect directly with employers looking to hire family physicians from the comfort of their home or office. 

Through this virtual career fair members will: 

-Gain direct access to physician employers looking to hire. 

-Make new connections and broaden their network. 

-Explore career opportunities available to family physicians.

-Registration is required. Although designed for residents, any member may attend. 

Health insurance is changing in 2014--so the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services CMS has updated HealthCare.gov to help consumers get ready for the Health Insurance Marketplace.

When open enrollment starts on October 1, 2013, consumers will be able to apply, compare plans, and enroll. Coverage starts as soon as January 1, 2014. www.Marketplace.cms.gov  has new information too In support of this update, there are a variety of materials for you and the consumers you help, available for immediate download on Marketplace.cms.gov. There are brochures, fact sheets, videos, a postcard, resource card, and a checklist for consumers. 

The 2013 results and the continued good news for family medicine demonstrate that we must continue to trumpet family medicine and build on our efforts to grow the future family medicine workforce.  Our upcoming Family Medicine Midwest conference, October 4-6 in Milwaukee provides a tremendous and tangible opportunity for Midwestern residency programs and medical schools to collaborate on the shared mission of providing a strong primary care workforce to reduce the shortages currently predicted by many expert groups.  

For Residents and Faculty - Online registration will be available soon!  If your program needs to submit an application to exhibit at the residency fair, you can find that here! Contact Ginnie Flynn at gflynn@iafp.com or 630-427-8004 for help. 

The IAFP is serving as the meeting manager for the first-ever conference of this new 12-state alliance.  The Family Medicine Midwest Collaborative includes:  Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.   

If you have a news item to share, email it to Ginnie Flynn at gflynn@iafp.com.

The Associated Press published a story asking how can America meet the growing demand for access to primary care services when millions of Americans gain insurance coverage through Medicaid or subsidized private plans when the Affordable Care Act rolls into the next phase Jan. 1, 2014?  One version of the story that ran in Crain's Chicago Business and the Daily Herald included input from Russell Robertson, MD about obstacles to converting medical students to family physicians.  Another version of the AP story ran in the Southern Illinoisan that included the career plans of Northwestern-McGaw resident Stephanie Place, MD - who will stay in Chicago to practice at an FQHC after fielding tons of job offers.  A companion sidebar article included input from SIU Dept. of Family and Community Medicine interim chair John Bradley, MD on how the ACA provides the benefits of insurance and some mechanisms for physicians to improve efficiency through EHRs, but also can be challenging for physicians to manage the immense changes so quickly.

Dawn Brunner, MD was back on Ask the Family Physician on WCIA-TV June 18. The topics covered sunscreen SPF fact and fiction, new vaccine requirements (such as Tdap) and migraines.

Ravi Grivois-Shah, MD has been busy!  He was quotedin a June 15 Chicago Tribune exploring why honesty in speaking with your doctor is so important. Next, on June 18 he received the Excellence in Public Health Policy Award from the Illinois Public Health Association for his work with the Oak Park Department of Health and advocacy efforts in his home city of Oak Park and in his practice location in Chicago.  And finally, heprovided insight on how to wisely consider social media when researching job candidates in a June 24 article in American Medical News

Michael Hanak, MD was elected to the position of chair-elect for the AMA's Young Physician Section.  He recently served as our Illinois delegate to the New Physicians section of the AAFP National Congress of Special Constituencies.

Jerry E. Kruse, M.D. has been named executive associate dean and chief executive officer of SIU HealthCare at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. He received the unanimous support of the SIU HealthCare Board of Directors, the clinical chairs and hospital partners.  Kruse has been professor and chairman of the Department of Family & Community Medicine from 1997 until March 2013. He will be the authority for all clinical and clinically related academic issues and planning. He is also a plenary speaker at the 2013 Family Medicine Midwest Conference, Oct. 4-6 in Milwaukee.

Jeff Ripperda, MD provides insight as to why men don't see the doctor often enough - and why they should - in honor of Men's Health Week in the June 9 issue of the Southern Illinoisan. 

Thomas Lee, MD is featured in a June 12 Joliet Herald News article advising parents how to prepare and pack for their kids heading to summer camps.

Ingrid Antonsen, MD has been named Christie Clinic's Physician of the Year for 2013.

Antonsen, head of the clinic's Family Medicine Department, has been a practicing physician at Christie Clinic for 18 years. The selection of Physician of the Year is determined by a vote of Christie team members.

Tony Miksanek, MD organized the first annual Kids Fun and Fitness Day on June 9, sponsored by the River to River Running Club and Southern Illinois Healthcare.  The IAFP's Family Health Foundation of Illinois donated Tar Wars pencils for the kids' goody bags.  Families and Community leaders from across the region participated. Check out the fantastic photos here.