Reflections: STFM Baltimore Regional Conference

In the few days before attending the Society of Teachers in Family Medicine (STFM) Northeast Regional Conference, I seriously thought about not going because I had an exam the day after the conference. All this changed when I received an email from the Chair of the conference. Here is an excerpt:

"Our intention has never been to just hold another meeting. Most of us have attended more than our fair share of meetings. Our intention is to energize a movement. The movement involves advancing a Family Medicine/primary care agenda that will reform our health care systems."

The theme of the conference was "The New Deal in Healthcare: A Medical Home for All." I recognized that advancing this movement is where my passions lie and that I needed to follow them. The opening plenary session on Friday set the tone when Dr. Richard Roberts and Shannon Brownlee debated about the health care system in the US. Important facts that I learned include:

• 1/5 to 1/3 of our health dollars on care does nothing to improve health care
• only 8-10% of our health care dollars are spent on primary care (Note: primary care has been proven time and time again to reduce mortality and morbidity much more than specialty care)
  
• General Motors spends more money on health insurance for employees than for steel and Starbucks spends more money on health insurance for employees than on coffee beans. That makes GM and Starbucks health insurance providers with car manufacturing and coffee selling as side businesses

The rest of the conference focused on concrete models in which health care reform could be implemented. Another focus in the conference was networking. Students were actively encouraged to meet faculty and residents. Special interest breakfast, lunch and dinner tables were set up; students were encouraged to talk with residency directors at a residency fair; and small group seminars and workshops encouraged discussions.

BU had its moment of fame when Dr. Joanne Wilkinson, Dr. Eileen Pierce and Dr. Miriam Hoffman presented a seminar on the BU FaMeS program followed by discussion about other schools' models and challenges that schools face in promoting Family Medicine.

The conference demystified and personalized the problems in the health care system. Each of us were called to do act and given means to do so. As medical students, we were given the opportunity to network, to learn more about family medicine and even to learn about how to successfully match in family medicine. Whether through workshops, talks, plenary sessions or simple personal interactions, the air at the Baltimore Convention Center was tinged with excitement: an excitement about the possibility of reform and the desire to share that with the nation.