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IAFP 2018 Student Delegate Report
Tiffany Ku – Loyola University - Stritch School of Medicine

This year was my first time at the AAFP National Conference for Family Medicine Residents and Students, and it was an inspiring few days in Kansas City. As a second-year medical student, I was extremely fortunate to simultaneously serve as the Illinois Student Delegate and participate in this year’s AAFP Emerging Leaders Institute. The entire four days greatly reaffirmed my passion for family medicine and advocacy.

This year’s conference focused on health equity. The opening main stage session on Saturday was a panel that featured diversity in medicine and improving social determinants of health. T.R. Reid, who I’ve heard about during my undergraduate studies as a public health major, moderated the panel focused on the role that physicians could play in addressing social determinants of health in their practice. Because health equity has been my primary focus during my undergraduate medical career so far, it was greatly uplifting to see that AAFP is also advancing this important conversation on a national level.

Serving as the Illinois student delegate was also a fantastic experience for me to understand more about the AAFP’s congressional process. Although I have always been interested in advocacy, this experience was the first time I truly participated in the intricacies of a congress and resolutions process. After attending the resolutions workshop, I joined the “Health of the Public and Science” group to write a resolution. After thinking critically about how my current work could inform a resolution, I drafted a resolution about improving the accessibility and training of the AAFP’s EveryONE Project, a new initiative to provide members with additional resources to address health equity in their medical practice.

Much of this idea was inspired by my project sponsored by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation focused on how free clinics screen for and address social needs. With insight from the student commission leader about the AAFP’s current efforts in health equity, my resolution calls for the development of webinars/other communication methods for the EveryONE Project users and the creation of a data registry for primary care delivery, research, etc.

On Friday, I spoke for my resolution in front of the reference committee. Unfortunately, on Saturday I had to leave the conference earlier to attend the Emerging Leaders Institute, but I found out later that resolution had passed that day (a huge thank you to my alternative delegate, Rebecca Wornhoff from Rush Medical College for standing in for me multiple times). Later, I found out I had been featured in an AAFP news article about our resolutions regarding health equity.

In addition to attending the National Conference as your Illinois Student Delegate, I also had the exquisite opportunity to participate in the AAFP Emerging Leaders Institute following the conference. There, I had an opportunity to learn from leaders within AAFP and in the greater field of family medicine, with a focus on public health, policy, and advocacy. Plus, I met an amazing cohort of peers and residents who were similarly focused on primary care leadership and health equity. Attending the conference and Emerging Leaders Institute will be a significant contributor to my professional career for years to come—I left inspired to pursue future leadership opportunities on a national level, and to further advance health equity through advocacy and organized medicine.