Committee Reports

Education Committee Report

This has been another incredible year for the Education Committee! All of our members have been actively engaged and participatory in the array of activities generated by this committee. We want to thank Bill Shore, MD, for his 4 years as chair of the committee, as well as the members who rotated off, Ann O’Brien-Gonzales, PhD; Gregory Smith, MD; and Harry Strothers, MD, MMM, our resident representative Mari Ricker, MD, and our student representative Nikki Boersma, MD.

Predoctoral Education Conference
The 32nd Annual Predoctoral Education Conference was held February 2–5, 2006, in Charleston, SC. It was hosted and chaired by Alec Chessman, MD, who put his own special stamp on the meeting, and cochaired by Kent Sheets, PhD. Attendance was again strong, essentially matching the past several years. There was a strong blend of sessions and plenaries, culminating in Carol Heaton’s supportive, yet challenging plenary titled “The Future Ain’t What It Used to Be—or How Zen, Broadway, and Technology Will Guide the Future of Family Medicine and Change the World As We Know It.” Again, four student scholarships were awarded, including a remarkable individual from an “orphan” school. Initial feedback has been positive, and planning has commenced for the 2007 conference already, with Dr Sheets as chair and Katie Margo, MD, as cochair.

Faculty Development
A critical responsibility of the Education Committee remains faculty development, and our array of sponsored activities continues to be strong and grow. Andrea Manyon, MD, completed a survey of opportunities currently available within family medicine. Heidi Chumley, MD, continues to oversee the Faculty Development Workshops held at STFM meetings, with Workshop #5, Career Development, offered at the Predoctoral Education Conference and #2, Research, offered at the Annual Spring Conference in San Francisco.

With feedback relating to the need for more advanced administration and management skills (current #3), a decision to offer a workshop on Leadership Skills was reached, and Steve Bogdewic, PhD, and team will lead a preconference workshop at the Annual Spring Conference in San Francisco.

Brenda Manning, PhD, coordinated a successful regional faculty development workshop, Administrative and Managerial Skills for Academic Leadership, this past fall at the STFM Northeast Region meeting. Dan Castro, MD, is leading the organization of a regional faculty development workshop in Los Angeles, in conjunction with UCLA, to be held October 7, 2006.

For several years, the need for specific skill development for predoctoral directors has been identified. Under the leadership of Dr Margo, a proposal was presented to the Board of Directors to support a Predoctoral Directors Institute. This new offering will address skills for success in this critical role at our medical schools. It will take place at the Predoctoral Education Conference and the Annual Spring Conference in 2007, be modeled on the successful series for residency directors (NIPDD), and will include a series of workshops on critical skills development, a mentored project, and identified sessions at each meeting relating to success in this position.

Under faculty development related to manuscript writing, Dr Chumley again has worked with the journal, Teaching and Learning in Medicine, and the authors to publish summaries of select peer papers from the 2005 Predoctoral Education meeting. This will again happen this year, with presentations from the 2006 meeting.

Academic Track
John Delzell, MD, MSPH, led a successful series of workshops at the 2005 AAFP National Conference for Family Medicine Residents and Medical Students, especially related to the process of preparing for the Match. He also has continued to coordinate the Education Committee’s columns in the STFM Messenger.

NBME
A group of 11 family medicine educators met with a select group from the NBME in November 2005 to continue the discussions held at the last two predoctoral education conferences. A key focus was on the content of the family medicine subject exam. There were two issues addressed at the meeting: those related to writing/choosing exam questions and the need to establish a family medicine exam review committee, which exists for other disciplines.

Outcomes of the meeting were review of current questions, convening of a group of family physicians to write test questions, and to ask Joseph Hobbs, MD, chair of the AFMO Predoctoral Education Subcommittee, to develop a recommendation from that group to the NBME to create a family medicine exam review committee.
I wish to express my gratitude to all the dedicated members of the Education Committee and also to our supportive staff liaison, Stacy Brungardt, CAE, who keeps us on task and productive.

Jeffrey Stearns, MD, Chair

Education Committee

Jeffrey Stearns, MD, Chair
Aurora/Sinai Samaritan Medical Center
Milwaukee, Wis

Daniel Castro, MD
LA BioMed Institute at Harbor-UCLA

Jason Chao, MD, MS
Case Western Reserve University

Heidi Chumley, MD
University of Kansas

John Delzell, MD, MSPH
University of Kansas

Sara Kim, PhD
University of Washington

Andrea Manyon, MD
SUNY Upstate Medical University

David Steele, PhD
Florida State University

STFM Resident Representative
Hanly Burton, DO
Montana Family Medicine Residency
Billings, Mont

STFM Student Representative
Miranda McCann, MEd
Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine

AAFP COE Liaison
Inis Bardella, MD
Indiana University

AAFP Staff Liaison
Amy McGaha, MD
American Academy of Family Physicians
Leawood, Kan

STFM Staff Liaison
Stacy Brungardt, MA, CAE