Fun with students and residents!

This week was a whirlwind of student and resident activities! The Faces in Family Medicine (FIFM) 2.0 Program is going strong with TWO dinner meetings this week. And the Resident Lunches continue to be successful. I put some miles on my car, traveling to Manhattan for the kick-off of the FIFM 2.0 Program for pre-med K-State students on Tuesday. Thank you to the following family physicians for sharing about their practice: Drs.Deb Doubek (Manhattan), Mike Engelken (Topeka), Lynn Fisher (Plainville), Doug Gruenbacher (Quinter), Bob Moser (Topeka), Verlyn Steinkruger (Manhattan) and Keith Wright (Manhattan). This is the first year the FIFM program is open for pre-med students, and it promises to be wildly successful if the student interest thus far is any measure! Thirty K-State students are signed up to participate in the FIFM program.

Then I headed off again on Thursday to Salina for the FIFM 2.0 Program for KU School of Medicine-Salina, with another good group of students – this time first and second year med students. Thank you to Drs. Chuck Allred (Salina), Cayle Goertzen, (Belleville), Shelly Gruenbacher (Quinter) and Brian Holmes (Abilene) for speaking to the students about their practice and exemplifying some of the many faces the specialty can offer. FIFM 2.0 dinner meetings have already been kicked off for WSU pre-med, KU School of Medicine-Wichita and pre-med Ft. Hays State students earlier this month.

One more dinner meeting is planned for KU School of Medicine-Kansas City students on Oct. 10. After the dinner meetings, the second element of the program is providing a family physician Mentor for interested students. Are you interested in being a mentor? Please contact me at kafp@kafponline.org.

Before the FIFM program on Thursday, Drs. Chris Cupp (Scott City) and Cayle Goertzen and I spoke at noon conference for Smoky Hill residents and faculty. The group had a great discussion about KAFP and AAFP membership benefits and different practice styles. The officers and I plan to travel to each residency program to provide this important information to Kansas residents.  They are the future of family medicine and we're hoping they view KAFP as a relevant and important part of their career!