Reflections

Now that my sleep deprived self is back in Boston I wanted to share some final reflections:

Through this conference, the importance of family medicine became very apparent. From the opening talk on family medicine's contributions and roles to the different workshops that explain family medicine's approaches to the plethora of family medicine residency programs at the exhibit, the different structures that make up family medicine became apparent. And family medicine no longer seems like the "dead end" road that it has been touted as by so many. There are academic tracks, rural tracks, urban tracks, international opportunities, double board with preventive medicine tracks, residencies with dual MPHs or MBAs.

I entered into this conference not really with a directed purpose. I wasn't a fourth year medical student desperately trying to impress residency directors at the exhibits, I wasn't a delegate fighting for an elected position on AAFP (I wasn't, unlike Marcel, trying to blog every second of my time at the conference). But I came away with a better sense of the scope of family medicine and the impact it has on individuals and families' lives. Mentally, I revisited my med school applications and looked at my motivations for becoming a doctor throughout the conference - and I realized that family medicine and my motivations fit like an fitted enzyme-substrate complex.