The Ohio Academy of Family Physicians (OAFP) Delegates and Alternate Delegates met in Chicago, IL, October 25-27 to participate in the business of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) Congress of Delegates (COD).
Virtual reference committee hearings were held October 14-15 to hear testimony on the proposed resolutions.
Ohioans attending the meeting included President Wayne Forde, MD, FAAFP; President-Elect, Kelly Meehan de-la Cruz, MD, FAAFP, Vice President, Ohio Alternate Delegate, and American Medical Association Delegate Mary Krebs, MD, FAAFP; Treasurer Jaividhya Dasarathy, MD, FAAFP; Speaker Roma Amin, MD; Vice Speaker Catherine Romanos, MD, FAAFP; Emerging Leader to the COD and New Physician Candidate for the AAFP Board of Directors Matthew Adkins, DO; Student Delegate to COD Olivia Dhaliwal; AAFP Past President Gary LeRoy, MD, FAAFP; AAFP Foundation Treasurer Renee Markovich, MD, FAAFP; Delegate Elisabeth (Lisa) Righter, MD, FAAFP; Delegate and 2023 Candidate for the AAFP Board of Directors Sarah Sams, MD, FAAFP; Alternate Delegate Mike Sevilla, MD, FAAFP; Constituency Delegate John Sharma, MD, MS, FAAFP; Emerging Leader Heidi Yount, MD, FAAFP; Past President Colette Willins, MD, FAAFP; Mark McLoney, MD; Elizabeth McIntosh, MD, MPH; Past President Jeff Bachtel, MD, FAAFP; Nate Overmire, DO; Steve Ulrich, MD; Executive Vice President (EVP) Kate Mahler, CAE; Deputy EVP Kaitlin McGuffie; Director of Education Erin Jech; and Director of Member Engagement Emily Pavoni.
The first day of Congress began with a Town Hall where members heard from the AAFP’s elected leaders, Board Chair Sterling Ransone, MD, FAAFP; President Tochi Iruko-Malize, MD, MPH, MBA, FAAFP; President Elect Steven Furr, MD; and EVP/CEO Shawn Martin. After a brief presentation by each, members had the opportunity to ask questions of those leaders.
Wednesday morning started with the Address of the Speaker, Russell Kohl, MD, FAAFP; the Address of the President, Dr. Iroku-Malize; and the Address of the President-Elect, Dr. Furr. The Farewell Address of the Board Chair, Dr. Ransone, closed out the session for day one. AAFP officers’ addresses can be found on the AAFP website.
After a short break, the Congress met back in the room, but out of official session, and heard a report from the Elected Leadership Nominations Process Committee. Discussion and questions were allowed from any member, not just the seated delegates. After a break for lunch, the Congress reconvened to begin debate on the recommendations of the Elected Leadership Nominations Process Committee. The initial vote was to determine if the Congress wanted to proceed with a nominating committee. The item passed, so further discussion then began on the Rules committee recommendations regarding the make up of the nominating committee. The final report of the Standing Rules can be found on the AAFP website.
After another short break the candidate’s forum was held with candidates for At Large Director giving speeches, and candidates for President-Elect giving their speeches followed by a Question-and-Answer session. At the end of the day, we moved to the sequential Meet the Candidates and Candidate Hospitality events. Members of the OAFP could easily be seen in their bright purple t-shirts as they supported its candidate for the AAFP Board of Directors, Dr. Sams.
Thursday began with greetings from AAFP EVP/CEO Mr. Martin and AAFP’s sister organizations, the American Medical Association, WONCA, the College of Family Physicians of Canada, the American Board of Family Medicine, and the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians.
We then began with reference committee reports and deliberation on resolutions.
Thursday’s lunch was highlighted by awards presentations for the Humanitarian Award, the John G. Walsh Award, the Public Health Award, the Thomas W. Johnson Award for Career Contributions to Family Medicine Education, the American Family Physician Article of the Year Award, and the outgoing President’s Awards.
After an inspiring lunch we were back to the business of Congress. We heard reports from the AAFP Foundation, FamMedPAC, the AAFP American Medical Association Delegation, the Council of Academic Family Medicine, the National Conference of Constituency Leaders, and the National Conference of Residents and Students.
Further reference committee reports were heard, and resolutions voted on. The final actions of the reference committees can be found on the AAFP website. Ohio’s resolution, “Advocacy for Removing Race as a Factor in Clinical Decision Support Tools,” was adopted and has been referred to both the Commission on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusiveness in Family Medicine and the Commission on Federal and State Policy. A summary of the actions of the 2023 Congress of Delegates can be found on the AAFP website.
A delegate’s reception was held prior to a wonderful Ohio dinner with our colleagues from Colorado.
Friday morning completed our work and debate on the Elected Leadership Nominations Process. Elections were held. View the newly-elected AAFP officers on the AAFP website. Commission chair appointments were announced. Installation of officers including Ohio’s own Dr. Adkins, New Physician Board member, and Dr. Sams, an At Large Board Member, concluded the AAFP Congress of Delegates.
Respectfully submitted,
Sarah Sams, MD, FAAFP; Elisabeth (Lisa) Righter, MD, FAAFP; Mike Sevilla, MD, FAAFP; and Mary Krebs, MD, FAAFP