Shannon Connolly, MD –
President Elect
Fall greetings from the Los Angeles Academy of Family Physicians! I hope you are well. Things have been very busy at the AAFP, CAFP, and LAAFP since our last update.
At the national level, last month’s Family Medicine Experience (FMX) conference in San Antonio provided members with practice changing updates, hands-on tutorials, and a few new revelations. One attendee in my practice told me she was surprised to learn that diet soda promotes weight gain and that future diabetes management guidelines may further disfavor the use of sulfonylureas. Did you miss FMX? Not to worry, you can still “virtually attend” at your own pace by signing up for FMX On Demand, and earn up to 50.75 CME credits. More information here. https://orders.ondemand.org/cgi-bin/htmlos/tracking.html?trackpage=web&tracktype=fmx
The AAFP has, of course, also been busy protecting the future of health care access in the United States. Recently we have weathered yet another “repeal and replace” attempt at dismantling the protections of the Affordable Care Act, and most recently the Department of Health and Human Services has announced some troubling changes that could affect your patients’ access to contraception. Colleagues, your help is needed to ensure that the health and safety of patients is protected. Are you interested in getting involved in legislative advocacy but not sure where to begin? Then the 2017 State Legislative Conference is for you! It will be in Dallas from November 2-4, and registration is open with more information here. http://www.aafp.org/events/slc.html.
The CAFP has also been very busy doing the work of family medicine. After the devastating hurricane in Puerto Rico, CAFP member Kim Yu organized an effort to purchase generators for family doctors in Puerto Rico so they can continue to provide patients with much needed care. If you would like to contribute to this effort, please donate to the CAFP Foundation here. https://www.aafpfoundation.org/foundation/get-involved/give/donation-form.html. Additionally, our colleague from Humboldt, CA, Hal Groetke has decided to go to Puerto Rico to assist with relief efforts. If you’d like to help him, read more about his trip here. https://www.gofundme.com/4ivfqxk. On a personal note, I have known Hal for years and he is both a stellar physician and a humanitarian role model.
The LAAFP has been busy too. We have continued our partnership with the LA County Department of Public Health with the second event in our public health lecture series last month. Attendees learned how to provide pre-exposure HIV prophylaxis. The County has put together an excellent toolkit of resources, algorithms, and other useful information here. http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/dhsp/PEP-PrEP-Provider.htm. I cannot stress how easy it is to provide PrEP–any family doctor can do it!
As you can see, it’s been a busy several weeks. I’m looking forward to hearing all of your updates as well at our upcoming Membership Dinner. Please save the date (November 16), and bring a colleague who has never been to one of our dinners!
See you there!
Shannon Connolly
