Rebecca Bertin, MD

Happy New Year from LAAFP!

In the midst of this especially severe flu season, it can be difficult at times to think much beyond the sick patients in our waiting rooms, the add-ons to our schedules, and our own ill family members and friends. I hope that LAAFP is one of the places you can come to find support and resources to keep some of your focus on the big picture of health care outside the clinic walls and why we do this. We have some exciting plans for this year, and I hope you’ll join us.

This year is the 70th anniversary of our state parent chapter, and CAFP is celebrating by telling stories. You can join in the celebration here: http://www.familydocs.org/cafp70.  As family physicians, we have the privilege of hearing and participating in the stories of our patients’ lives. We also tell our own stories frequently. We tell stories to patients to counsel them about possible consequences of their choices and help them take better care of themselves. We tell stories to our trainees about our experiences as family physicians as we encourage them to choose our beloved specialty. We tell stories to each other as we ask advice about confusing cases or interesting patients. And we can tell stories to legislators as we advocate for improvements in our health care system.

To this last point, I encourage you to start making your plans now (if you haven’t already) to attend the CAFP All Member Advocacy Meeting in Sacramento in March. As the largest local chapter of CAFP we send quite a sizable delegation each year, and we would always love to have more members come along to learn about the current legislative discussions that may affect family doctors. You can find more information about the event, registration (free!), and hotel reservations here: http://www.familydocs.org/all-member-advocacy-meeting

And if you know any medical students or residents who may be interested in attending, we have scholarships available for them, here: https://www.laafp.org/scholarships-grants/

I look forward to seeing you at LAAFP events this year, and hearing your story!