STFM Member Victoria Gorski, MD, FAAFP, is associate professor of the Department of Family and Social Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr Gorski has been an STFM member for 22 years

A High Return on Investment 

It’s approaching winter of 2020. This moment has an intensity unlike others, and I feel so very fortunate to feel deeply rooted in the mission-driven family medicine department where I’ve spent my clinician educator years, and in STFM, another mission-driven organization. I am grateful for the colleagues who helped me grow up as a family medicine educator, as well as the STFM members and highly competent staff—an extraordinary group of intelligent, wise, caring, creative, and fun individuals. The “family” in family medicine is all about relationships and about a systems perspective on health and healing. That orientation calls to people with a spirit of sincere and loving humanity.  

Paying it Forward

I’ve had the good fortune to serve on the STFM Board of Directors and know what a thoughtful and deliberative body it is. So, when the Board of Directors decided to cancel the Conference on Families and Health, a nurturing environment for me and many of my closest colleagues, the rationale was painful but clear.

The Behavioral Science/Family Systems Educator Fellowship was developed to achieve many of the same goals fulfilled by the former conference through a funding proposal granted by the STFM Foundation. Into its tenth year, the fellowship continues to thrive. It represents the whole person approach to care that makes family medicine so special, while supporting an intergenerational space for continued focus on the interdisciplinary nature of the work we do. The STFM Foundation has done a commendable job of thinking ahead seven generations to support people and ideas that are grounded in values, while keeping a broad perspective that is fluid and adaptable—important qualities required in these unsettling times. I’m confident that when I donate, there will be a high ROI.

Transformation

Transforming the future of family medicine would not be possible without the generosity of people like Victoria Gorski, as well as countless STFM members and supporters. Through both member and departmental donations, the STFM Foundation is able to support STFM's priority to develop the pipeline for academic family medicine. 

To transform the future of academic family medicine by donating to the STFM Foundation, contact Mindy Householder at 800.274.7928 or mhouseholder@stfm.org.