Ohio Academy of Family Physicians chapter leaders met in Kansas City, MO, April 26-29 for the American Academy of Family Physicians Annual Chapter Leader Forum (ACLF) and the National Conference of Constituency Leaders (NCCL).
ACLF is the AAFP’s leadership development program for chapter-elected leaders, aspiring leaders, and chapter staff. Ohio members attending included Stan Anderson, MD, FAAFP; Jeff Bachtel, MD, FAAFP; Doug Harley, DO, FACOFP, FAAFP; Ryan Kauffman, MD, FAAFP; Gary LeRoy, MD, FAAFP; Don Mack, MD FAAFP; Renee Markovich, MD, FAAFP; Mark McLoney, MD; Anna McMaster, MD, FAAFP; Elisabeth Righter, MD, FAAFP; Sarah Sams, MD, FAAFP; Mike Sevilla, MD; and Teresa Zyrd, MD, MSPH, FAAFP. Staff members in attendance included Coordinator of Events and Foundation Programs Paige Schortgen; Director of Performance Improvement Erin Jech; and Deputy Executive Vice President Kate Mahler, CAE.
NCCL is AAFP’s premier policy development event for underrepresented constituencies, including women; minorities; new physicians; international medical graduates (IMG); and gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) physicians or physicians who support GLBT issues. Ohio’s official delegates to NCCL included: Brandon Crouch, MD (new physician representative); Wayne Ford, MD, FAAFP (minority representative); Mary Krebs, MD, FAAFP (women representative); Kathleen Meehan-de la Cruz, MD (GLBT representative); and Tamer Said, MD (IMG representative). In addition to participating in leadership sessions, NCCL delegates write, debate, and vote on resolutions related to medical practice and patient health.
All of our NCCL delegates participated in the special constituency election progress to fill various national-level leadership positions. Although each did a tremendous job, Dr. Meehan-de la Cruz was successfully elected as an NCCL 2018 member constituency co-convener for the LGBT constituency and member constituency alternate delegate to the AAFP Congress of Delegates.
- An opening session and plenary featuring AAFP President John Meigs, MD, FAAFP, who gave an update on the AAFP’s activities around MACRA and the Quality Payment Program (QPP).
- Breakout sessions that covered governance, communications, advocacy, media relations, and membership issues.
- An inspirational presentation by Kyle Maynard, who despite being born with a rare condition known as congenital amputation, that has left him with arms that end at the elbows and legs that end near his knees, he learned early on with the support of his family, to live life independently. Known for becoming the first quadruple amputee to reach the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Aconcagua without the aid of prosthetics, Kyle’s message focused on overcoming personal challenges to achieve incredible things.
- During the lunch program on April 28, the OAFP was recognized for sending a full delegation to NCCL.
Attendees from Ohio joined leaders from the Delaware and New Jersey chapters for dinner on April 28 for a combined group of 33 physicians and staff. In 2018, the conferences will be held Thursday-Saturday, April 26-28, 2018.