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Voting is a vital sign
By Matthew Brown, MD
My name is Matthew Brown, and I am a family doctor who has worked with the underserved in the inner city of Rochester for the past 12 years. In my position, I have seen what happens when people do not have access to primary and preventive care. I have seen people admitted for diabetic complications because they couldn’t afford their insulin. I have seen people diagnosed with end-stage cancer because they couldn’t afford screenings to catch it when it could have been treated. I have seen strokes, and heart attacks, and kidney failure, and a hundred other things because people had to choose between medicine and food. Between doctor’s visits and having a roof over their heads. Between what they needed in the long-term and what they needed right that moment.
Medical care shouldn’t be a political issue. I didn’t work so diligently in medical school and residency because I hoped one day I would get to lobby my congressman, or attend rallies, or research Supreme Court decisions. The reason I became a doctor was, quite simply, to help people who needed help. And I hope most of the people I’ve had the honor and privilege of serving would see that even if I failed, I was trying with all of my heart to do that.
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You're Invited to AAFP's NCCL
By Christina Kelly, MD
The American Academy of Family Physicians National Conference of Constituency Leaders will be held April 27 - 29, 2017 with a preconference day on April 26 in Kansas City, Missouri. This is the AAFP’s premier leadership and policy development event for underrepresented constituencies, which includes new physicians (physicians in their first seven years of practice), women, international medical graduates, LGBT, and minority constituencies.
At this leadership meeting, we gather every year for a purpose. We gather to: learn about how we can make a difference for our patients and our specialty, inspire each other to advocate, lead the way to action, and challenge our colleagues to join us in our efforts. A variety of issues are discussed at this meeting, such as patient barriers to quality health care that you want the AAFP to address, challenges within a variety of practice settings that you want fixed, or changes that need to occur to continually improve family medicine.
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Harris County TAFP hosts med student forum
By Jean Klewitz
As all members of TAFP are keenly aware, Texas and the nation suffer from a persistent shortage of primary care physicians. We need more family doctors. The Harris County Academy of Family Physicians is taking important steps to generate and cultivate interest in family medicine among medical students.
HCAFP met for their Second Annual Medical Student Roundtable on Wednesday, Feb. 3, to discuss the specialty of family medicine. Members welcomed students early in their education from Baylor and UT Houston to a swanky restaurant on the sixth floor of the John P. McGovern Texas Medical Center Commons Building for an evening of frank questions and enlightening discussion.
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