Sunday, May 4, 2024

Opening General Session

“The Successful Family Medicine Research Mentor”
Dean Seehusen, MD, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University
Aaron Saguil, MD, University of Florida

Increasing research capacity and productivity in family medicine is a priority for the specialty. Successful mentoring will be essential to achieve these goals moving forward. Yet, many academic family physicians feel unprepared to be a research mentor. To overcome this paradox, all family medicine educators must embrace research mentoring as a core component of their career. Even those educators for whom research has not been a large part of their own careers can be influential research mentors.

Mentoring, coaching, and sponsoring are key tools that leaders can utilize to help support and promote family medicine researchers. Nurturing curiosity, facilitating collaboration, and building infrastructure are all ways that mentors can help build a more robust family medicine research culture. A straightforward mentoring model that simplifies the components and outcomes of mentoring will demystify the process.

Learning Objectives

At the end of the session each participant should:

• List challenges to mentoring research within family medicine

• Describe the use of mentoring, coaching, and sponsoring to advance family medicine research

• Describe a simple model for mentoring as a combination of challenge and support

Dean Seehusen, MD, MPH, earned his medical degree from the University of Iowa and a Master of Public Health from the University of Washington. He is a graduate of the Tripler Army Medical Center Family Medicine Residency and the Madigan Army Medical Center Faculty Development Fellowship in Family Medicine. Dr Seehusen served 21 years as an active-duty physician in the United States Army. He is a decorated combat veteran of wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He holds a board-certification from the American Board of Family Medicine and holds active licenses to practice medicine in Georgia and South Carolina.

Dr Seehusen is a fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians. He is deputy editor of the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine and an associate medical editor of American Family Physician. He is the inaugural fellowship director of the ABFM Research and Editing Fellowship. He is president of the Association of Departments of Family Medicine. De Seehusen is currently professor and chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Augusta University in Augusta, GA.

Aaron Saguil, MD, is a professor and chair of the Department of Community Health and Family Medicine. Providing primary care within the context of family and community systems is an area of special expertise, and his philosophy of care is to partner with his patients to help them achieve the best possible state of health.

In his role as chair of a department at UF Health, Dr Saguil leads more than 50 faculty members and a team responsible for educating the next generations of family medicine doctors. The team also conduct research to advance clinical care and provide care during more than 200000 patient visits annually. Looking to the future, the team will hone the focus of our department on issues important to family medicine and our patient population.

Dr Saguil is a retired Army colonel and Medical Corps officer, and has a special place in his heart for veteran care. During his service, He served as the associate dean of admissions and recruitment at the Uniformed Services University and as chief of primary care for the NATO Role 3 Multinational Medical Unit in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Dr Saguil is proud to have had my service recognized with the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, and Canadian Chief of Defense Staff Commendation.

Monday, May 5, 2024

“What Does It Mean To Be A (Family) Physician”
Thomas L. Schwenk, MD, University of Nevada

The enduring values of family medicine center on the compassionate, comprehensive care of patients over time. That care has defined family medicine and motivated family physicians for decades. Today, simply providing excellent care for patients may not be enough in the face of an extraordinarily perverse and dysfunctional health care system that often does everything in its power to make caring for patients difficult, stressful and discouraging. The regenerative power of the physician-patient relationship is often compromised and thwarted by a health care system that ranks as the worst in the world among developed countries. The health care system rides on the backs of family and other primary care physicians, and those backs are bending painfully under the system’s weight.

The solution lies in using the power of the physician-patient relationship as the source of motivation and energy to fight for the very soul of our profession, fight for the core of what it means to be a family physician, fight for operational changes that are designed for quality instead of efficiency, fight for informational and technological solutions that promote continuity, and fight for model operations that show our learners how attractive family medicine can be. This fight will require leadership at all levels of the discipline of family medicine. 

Through stories and personal anecdotes from his career, the presenter will illustrate the regenerative power of the physician-patient relationship and the power of the family physician’s role as an agent for change.

Learning Objectives

At the end of the session each participant should:

• Be exposed to the core importance and regenerative power of the physician-patient relationship
• Have the opportunity to reflect on their own commitment to the core attributes of the physician-patient relationship as the motivation to fight for operational changes in the health care system
• Have the opportunity to consider their role as a leader in preserving and supporting the physician-patient relationship

Thomas L. Schwenk, MD, holds an appointment as dean emeritus at the University of Nevada, Reno, having served as dean of the School of Medicine and Vice-President of Health Sciences from 2011–2021.

Dr. Schwenk earned his B.S. degree in chemical engineering and M.D. from the University of Michigan. He trained at the University of Utah and practiced in Park City, Utah, before returning to the University of Michigan where he served as chair of the Department of Family Medicine from 1986–2011. 

He has served on the Board of Directors of the American Board of Family Medicine and was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2002. He also served for four years on the Administrative Board of the Council of Deans of the Association of American Medical Colleges. Dr Schwenk’s research has focused most recently on mental health and wellness in medical students, residents and physicians. He has co-authored over 160 publications, and has consulted to over 50 medical schools and teaching hospitals in various capacities. 

Wednesday, May 7, 2024

2024 Blanchard Lecture

“Building Equity into Health Care AI: From Promise to Practice”
Irene Dankwa-Mullan, MD, MPH, Dartmouth College

As the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in health care accelerates, the promise of improved patient outcomes and operational efficiencies is accompanied by critical concerns about the impact on health equity. Family medicine, with its commitment to holistic, patient-centered care, plays a vital role in ensuring that AI solutions contribute to more equitable health care delivery rather than perpetuating existing disparities.

In this keynote presentation, the presenter will explore how health care AI can be harnessed to advance equity while also addressing the significant risks posed by biased data and flawed algorithms. Drawing on her work in AI ethics and health equity, Irene will provide a practical framework for the intentional design and deployment of AI tools that promote fairness in patient care. She will discuss key strategies for mitigating biases in clinical algorithms, ensuring diverse patient representation in AI training data, and advocating for policies and practices that uphold equity at every stage of AI development.

This session will empower health care professionals and educators to actively engage in shaping AI’s future—transforming concerns into action by advocating for responsible AI use, inclusive design processes, and equitable outcomes for all patient populations.

Learning Objectives

At the end of the session each participant should:

• Identify potential sources of bias in health care AI systems and understand their impact on health equity
• Understand the principles of equitable AI design and deployment in clinical settings
• Explore strategies for family medicine educators to advocate for the intentional development and use of AI technologies that promote health equity
• Develop actionable steps to ensure diverse representation and fairness in data used for health care AI algorithms
• Recognize the role of health care professionals in shaping the future of AI to achieve more equitable patient outcomes

Irene Dankwa-Mullan, MD, MPH, is a leading expert at the intersection of artificial intelligence, health equity, and clinical care, with over a decade of experience driving innovation in the health care industry. She has worked extensively with academic institutions, nonprofit organizations, and health care systems to develop equitable AI frameworks that ensure the fair and inclusive deployment of technology in medicine. Her expertise lies in integrating AI and machine learning tools into clinical workflows while advocating for policies that prioritize diverse patient populations and mitigate systemic biases in data and algorithms.

Dr Dankwa-Mullan currently advises on how to evaluate health care delivery systems' readiness to procure, evaluate, and deploy AI solutions that adhere to the highest ethical and technical standards. She also works with early-stage health technology start-up companies, where she leverages her industry experience and expertise to build fair and inclusive AI solutions. She has published widely on the ethical implications of AI in health care and frequently speaks at national and international conferences on the role of AI in advancing health equity. 

She is passionate about educating the next generation of health care leaders to be advocates for responsible, patient-centered AI. She is committed to ensuring that AI serves as a tool for reducing health disparities, not exacerbating them.