The Georgia Academy of Family Physicians is seeking submissions for the Annual Research Poster Competition to be held Friday, October 27, 2017, during the GAFP’s Annual Scientific Assembly.

Submissions from Pathway to Medical School Pre-med students and GAFP members who are medical students, residents and practicing physicians/fellows are welcome.

Posters presented may be research results, case reports, summer projects, or educational projects.  Posters may address any topic relevant to family medicine.  Submissions must be original work not yet published or presented at regional or national meetings.  However, concurrent (2017) submissions to other conferences such as NAPCRG and STFM are encouraged.  Medical student projects previously presented at medical schools or on student “Research Days” are accepted.

How to Submit Your Poster Information:

Please visit the GAFP website and access the Poster Competition information by clicking on the Education tab, then selecting the 2017 Research Poster Competition link.  Complete the entry form and submit it back to Angela Flanigan at aflanigan@gafp.org by Friday, September 29^th with a copy of your project abstract and an electronic copy of your poster.

Poster Acceptance Notification:

Competition finalists will be notified via email no later than Friday, October 13^th.

During the Competition:

Posters will be judged at the time of presentation at the Annual Meeting on Friday, October 27 from 9:30 am – 12:30 pm.  The review will focus on the Significance of findings for practicing family physicians; Quality of presentation of findings; and, Quality of methods used to generate findings.

Winners will be announced immediately after the competition in the Social and Information Hub.

After the Competition:

Awards up to $500 will be awarded to the winning outstanding pre-med student(s), medical student(s), and resident(s). The winning practicing physician/fellow will receive a recognition award. Monetary and recognition awards will be sent to the winners within two weeks after the meeting. Please note, if there are multiple presenters for a winning poster, they will share the award equally.

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For more information, please contact Angela Flanigan (800) 392-3841 or aflanigan@gafp.org

Georgia, along with family medicine residency programs from twenty-five additional states, set up decorative booths at the Kansas City Convention Center July 27th-29th to attract medical student candidates to Georgia to attend their residency in our state.  Current residents from our programs were there to offer information and share their passion for family medicine with medical students, who were excited and energetic about family medicine and the future.  The steady stream of medical students visiting the Georgia programs was non-stop for three days, and our programs engaged with hundreds of prospective applicants where they united to create a strong presence to the students.

In addition, we had representation in both the resident and student categories.  Drs. Monique Merritt-Atkins from the Morehouse School of Medicine Program in Atlanta and Jessica Brumfield from the Georgia South Family Medicine Residency at Colquitt Regional Medical Center in Moultrie, two of our resident Board members, were our delegate and alternate respectively. Alayna Dukes from the Mercer University in Macon, served as our student delegate.

The total conference attendance was 5,100, a record high composed of 1,147 Residents and 1,691 Students. A total of 30 resolutions were submitted.

SPECIAL NEWS: Natalie Britt, MD (Savannah) was elected as one of the two National Resident Alternate Delegates to the AAFP Congress of Delegates for 2017-2018!  Congratulations to Dr. Britt!

Chetan Patel, MD and Natalie Britt, MD pictured celebrating Dr. Britt’s win!

A message from Natalie Britt, MD: “What a privilege to attend the national conference again this year! It was an incredibly enriching and inspiring week. The energy and enthusiasm for family medicine is palpable, and I feel blessed to have taken part.  The opportunity to run for resident alternate delegate to the Congress of Delegates was especially exciting for me this year.  Seeing democracy at work as we advocate for our patients opened my eyes to the importance of being involved with public policy. I am very honored to serve my fellow residents over the next year, and I look forward to being more involved with the Georgia Academy as well”.

Chetan Patel, M.D., of the Columbus Regional Medical Center in Columbus authored a resolution on a topic that causes many residents a good deal of stress: personal finance. Dr. Patel asked the AAFP to include an educational session on personal finance at future National Conferences, which would be taught by a certified financial planner.

Another event that occurred at the AAFP National Conference is the Primary Care Leadership Collaborative (PCLC). Jamal Lawrence, MD – PGY-2 at Savannah Family Medicine Residency Program – is a coach for 2 of the FMIGs in the pilot program. Dr. Lawrence was selected to be a coach from a large group of resident and early career physician applicants.  He received extra training in June through Primary Care Progress to become a coach. Family Medicine Interest Groups (FMIG’s) Mercer Savannah Campus was selected from an applicant pool of 25 FMIGs that applied to be one of the 13 FMIGs in the program.  The student leader FMIG team members are Courtney Stone (M1), Tara Keil (M2), Ashley Hampton (M2), and Laurel Duvall (M4).

Our student delegate, Alayna Dukes, MPH, reported that she enjoyed lectures and a biopsy workshop designed to improve clinical knowledge and skills along with enjoying many opportunities to converse with students, residents, and physicians all excited about the “Family Medicine Revolution.”

(Left to Right)

Alayna Dukes, MPH (Student Delegate) Monique Merritt-Atkins, MD (Resident Delegate) Jessica Brumsfield, DO (Resident Delegate) and Chetan Patel, MD (Resident Alternate Delegate to the AAFP Congress of Delegates for 2016-2017).

The Georgia Academy of Family Physicians is seeking submissions for the Annual Research Poster Competition to be held Friday, October 27, 2017, during the GAFP’s Annual Scientific Assembly.

Posters presented may be research results, case reports, summer projects, or educational projects. Posters may address any topic relevant to family medicine. Submissions must be of original work not yet published or presented at regional or national meetings. Medical student projects previously presented at medical schools or student “Research Days” are accepted. Concurrent (2017) submissions to other conferences such as NAPCRG and STFM are considered legitimate and are, in fact, encouraged.

Please visit the GAFP website and access the Poster Competition information by clicking on the CME & Events tab, then selecting the 2017 Research Poster Competition link. Complete the entry form and submit it back to Angela Flanigan at aflanigan@gafp.org by Friday, September 29th with the requested information.

Posters will be judged for awards at the time of presentation at the meeting. Review will focus on the Significance of findings for practicing family physicians; Quality of presentation of findings; and, Quality of methods used to generate findings. Each submission will be reviewed by a panel of judges and finalists will be notified via email by Friday, October 13th . Awards up to $500 will be awarded to an outstanding pre-med student(s), medical student(s), and resident(s). Practicing physicians/fellow receive a recognition award.

For more information, please contact Angela Flanigan (800) 392-3841 or aflanigan@gafp.org

The Georgia Academy of Family Physicians highly values the contributions made by family medicine residents and medical students and recognizes the importance of training future leaders of medicine. It is one of the few specialty organizations to actively enlist resident and student members in leadership roles. Information about AAFP and other family medicine organization resident and student leadership positions for 2017-2018 is available on AAFP.org, including a comprehensive list of positions, position descriptions and requirements, time commitments, and an application timeline. If you are interested in applying for an AAFP leadership position, please contact the GAFP Chapter with requested materials no later than August 5th. As a requirement to apply for many of these positions, residents and students are asked to submit a letter of support to their chapter. Nominations for elected positions at National Conference should be submitted to the AAFP by July 26th. If not submitted by July 26th, candidate materials may be submitted onsite, however submitting the materials in advance is requested. A new video(www.youtube.com) showcases 2015 residents and student leaders sharing information on their role, why they chose to be involved in a leadership position, and what they’ve learned along the way. Chapters may wish to share this video to assist with the application process. For a full list of available positions and nomination deadlines, please visit aafp.org/getinvolved.

Rachel Gallen, DO, Sang Dao, DO, and Nonna Ilyabayeva, MD Gwinnett Medical Center Family Medicine Residency Program

Twenty-four winners have been selected for the AAFP National Conference of Family Medicine Residents and Medical Students annual poster presentation competition.

The AAFP National Conference of Family Medicine Residents and Medical Students provides one of the largest forums for medical students and family medicine residents to display research initiatives and special projects. Twenty-four winners have been selected for National Conference annual poster presentation competition. A list of the authors and poster titles is available(11 page PDF). Poster presentations will be displayed in the Expo Hall during National Conference, July 27-29 in Kansas City, MO.

Congratulations to Drs. Gallen, Dao and Ilyabayeva.

Abstract:

Improving Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Vaccination Rates in Immunocompetent Adults

ACIP pneumococcal vaccination guidelines changed in November 2014 with a new recommendation to give 1 dose of the polysaccharide vaccine for patients ages 19 to 64 with COPD, asthma, smoking history, coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, alcoholism, cirrhosis and type 2 diabetes. A baseline assessment of our PPSV23 adherence was determined by chart review and was found to be 3% in our patient population. In order to improve vaccine compliance, we implemented three sequential strategies; a didactic presentation which reinforced the new guidelines, dispersal of vaccine reference pocket cards among physicians and utilization of a reference poster placed on the bulletin board in the residents chart room. Following the implementation, a 3 month chart review was performed for data collection using our clinic electronic health record (EHR) charting system. The statistical analysis showed improvement in our vaccine compliance rates from 3% pre-intervention to 38% postintervention. This shows that the reinforcement of new guidelines and provision of visual reference guides is of great benefit in patient care. This intervention could be extended to other types of vaccinations such as pediatric immunizations. CP-4 Rural Healthcare Delivery in Haiti: Retrospective