Family Medicine Midwest from a Medical Student's Perspective

The following piece was written by first-year University of Minnesota medical student Kyle Lau and describes his experience at the 2016 Family Medicine Midwest Conference.

First-year University of Minnesota
medical student Kyle Lau

Thank you for supporting my travel to the Midwest Family Medicine Conference. My experience in Indianapolis has strengthened my passion to pursue family medicine.

I was inspired by leaders like Dr. Clif Knight and Dr. Michael LeFevre who shared their perspectives and stories on family medicine. Also, I was able to connect with students from other medical schools and share ideas on how we can promote family medicine at each of our institutions.

Attending this conference was especially important for alleviating my concerns about entering family medicine. By understanding that my peers and predecessors have all had the same worries as me, it gave me a sense of unity and strength that I could draw from to overcome my challenges as a family physician.

Coming from a low socioeconomic background and continuing to work as I attend medical school, I became distracted by how other specialties could provide more financial support than family medicine. I was misguided on how other specialties receive the majority of the prestige and was measuring my success in ways that did not truly matter to me. I needed a reminder on why I went into medicine. A reminder on how I first fell in love with the service of medicine. I went into medicine because I could form long-lasting, trusting relationships with my patients and make a difference in my community. Coming to this conference allowed me to realign my values and pursue my vocation.

Another reason why I was worried about going into family medicine was because I cowered at the thought of being the only physician for my community. I am afraid that there will come times when I am not enough to serve the needs of my community. I am afraid I will not be able to provide adequate care because I do not have enough resources, enough bed space, enough knowledge, or worse, not enough compassion because I was working long hours.

Yet attending this conference connected me with peers and mentors that share and have overcome these same concerns. Dr. LeFevre discussed the future of medicine and said that we will never have everything our communities need, but we are all they have.

And when we give our best efforts and put our patients first, everything else will fall into place. Throughout my medical journey, I need to hold onto that sacred trust between my patients and me and have faith that I will be able to make a difference in their lives as a family physician.

Thank you,
Kyle Lau

Family Medicine Midwest 2016

The following blog post was written by U of M Department of Family Medicine faculty Andrew Slattengren, DO, chair of the Family Medicine Midwest Foundation and presenter at this year's conference.

Indianapolis, IN

On October 7-9, 387 physicians, residents, and medical students gathered at the JW Marriott Hotel in Indianapolis, IN for the annual Family Medicine Midwest Conference. The event combined scholarly work and research presentations, community-based practice and best practice sharing, and promoted cooperative and collaborative health care innovation. There was also a residency and fellowship fair, “speed date our specialty” session, poster presentations, and pre-conference sessions.

The University of Minnesota Department of Family Medicine and Community Health and other individuals contributed to provide scholarships for medical students. Because of these efforts, 11 medical students from Minnesota were able to attend the conference.

“I'm one of the recipients of the FMM scholarship that allowed my colleagues and me to attend the Family Medicine Midwest Conference and I just wanted to sincerely thank you for your contribution that made this possible. The conference was both informative and educational, and it provided me with an opportunity to learn more about family medicine--the challenges and means to overcome those challenges. I was also able to network with family physicians, residents, my fellow students, and other professionals from all around Midwest. Again, thank you very much.” 

- Jafary Fafara, University of Minnesota third-year medical student

In addition to medical students, 10 other University of Minnesota resident physicians, family physicians, and other medical professionals attended. A total of nine U of M Department of Family Medicine faculty and U of M medical students presented educational sessions and/or posters during the conference. This conference is an excellent venue to demonstrate the amazing works of family physicians in Minnesota. See photos from the conference.

UMN Presentations at FMM 2016

Educational Sessions

• Developing Resilience to Create Lifelong Physicians for the Underserved - North Memorial faculty Laura Miller, MD, and Tanner Nissly, DO 

• Increasing Rural Family Physicians’ and Vietnam War Veterans’ Understanding of Agent Orange Exposure and Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 - Adjunct faculty Linda Olson Bergum, MD, and U of M third-year medical student Kirsten Larson

• Opioids for Chronic Pain, CDC Guidelines and Family Medicine - North Memorial faculty Andrew Slattengren, DO, and Tanner Nissly, DO

• A model for Interprofessional Team-based Post-hospital Care in the Academic Family Medicine Clinic - North Memorial faculty Andrew Slattengren, DO, and Jerica Berge, PhD, MPH, LMFT

• Looking Back at a Community Family Medicine Resident Research Project: What Worked?- Methodist faculty Lynn Manning, MD

Posters

• Leaf Libraries: Promoting Childhood Literacy in Community Waiting Spaces - U of M fourth-year medical student Lucas Boyle 

• Increasing Rural Family Physicians’ and Vietnam War Veterans’ Understanding of Agent Orange Exposure and Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 - Adjunct faculty Linda Olson Bergum, MD, and U of M third-year medical students Kirsten Larson and Kayla Schenheit

About Family Medicine Midwest

The Family Medicine Midwest (FMM) Foundation launched in 2012 with a core mission of identifying and supporting students interested in Family Medicine. It is committed to communicating the value of family medicine to practicing colleagues, future colleagues, and the public. Andrew Slattengren, DO, University of Minnesota North Memorial Family Medicine Residency faculty, is chair of the FMM Foundation.

Next year's conference will take place in Rosemont, Illinois on October 6-8.