The Congress consists of 2 delegates from each state, 2 resident delegates and 2 med student delegates. All AAFP members are allowed to attend (may I add at this point that medical student membership to the AAFP is free). During the Congress, the Executive and Board positions are elected. Also, various policies, which are introduced by the state delegates, are discussed and voted upon.
I attended three of the reference committee hearings: Committee on Education, Committee on Advocacy and Committee on Health of the Public. At a reference commitee hearing, resolutions created by states are introduced and any AAFP can provide testimony for or against the resolution. The reference committee then makes a recommendation for or against the resolution and this is then voted on in the large Congress.
Committee on Education highlights:
- a resolution was introduced to eliminate Step 2 CS based on the fact that it does not in fact evaluate clinical skills, is a financial burden on students and is of no use in differentiating between students for residency programs. Of note, not a single residency director or educator stood up and defended the usefulness of Step 2 CS! One of the delegates said: "A pre-med student with no clinical experience could read FirstAid for Step 2 CS and pass it."
- proposals to advocate for increase in funding for primary care residency programs
- a resolution supporting expanding student and residency leadership positions within the AAFP
Committee on Advocacy highlights:
- a huge debate about single payer health care system. It seemed like many of the members who testified supported the single payer system but did not think it is the right time to implement it
Committee on Health of the Public:
- advocating for banning cell phone usage while driving
- advocating for increased social determinants of health education in medical schools
- advocating for mandatory influenza vaccinations of health care workers
... to mention a few. Click here for more details about the congress.
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