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STFM 39th Annual Conference 2006
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Dear STFM Members and Family Medicine Colleagues,
It's time to join your family medicine colleagues at STFM’s 39th Annual Spring Conference! San Francisco is everyone’s favorite destination city because of its incomparable scenery, its diverse cultures, and its invigorating climate. It provides a great setting for us to come together, to enter into fellowship, and to search for solutions.
Our conference theme this year is “Searching for Solutions: Realizing Our Vision, Renewing Ourselves, and Supporting It All.” In this phrase I tried to capture some central issues — and opportunities — that we face. I’m pleased that the Program Committee has directly addressed these issues, both by including them in the Call for Papers and in their meticulous planning of this exciting meeting.
• Realizing Our Vision. The Future of Family Medicine Project gave us an exciting vision and a New Model of practice.
• We now need to clarify how we teach this New Model and STFM’s role in this very large and challenging effort. As you plan the sessions that you’ll attend, look for those that address implementing and teaching the New Model. The STFM Special Task Force on the Future of Family Medicine (FFM) has created a special FFM conference track; look for an identifying FFM logo beside the titles of these sessions. You will also find a stronger emphasis on clinical topics; these sessions can help us care better for our patients.
• Renewing Ourselves. Over nearly four decades, STFM has helped family medicine teachers create personal friendships and professional networks. These relationships and connections have helped us develop creative solutions to common problems, collaborate productively, and advance our core values. I hope that you’ll take full advantage of opportunities at this meeting to attend interesting sessions, meet new and old colleagues, involve yourself with STFM groups, share meals, and explore this delightful city. As you do so, you’ll renew yourself and develop new energy for the challenges ahead.
• Supporting it All. I don’t need to tell you that we’re facing turbulent times with many challenges to our traditional ways of funding our educational efforts. As I’ve indicated in several messages, STFM’s New Partners Initiative has been successfully launched. Look for a session describing our progress with this important project and for others that describe successful efforts to fund education and research in new ways beyond our traditional government sources of support.
I look forward to seeing you at the 2006 Annual Spring Conference in San Francisco!
William K. Mygdal, EdD
STFM President