The Kansas Academy of Family Physicians is composed of members with a diversity of backgrounds, practices, and values. This diversity has contributed to the KAFP becoming the amazing chapter that it is today. I have had the great fortune to gain experience while working as a clinician, community advocate, and in organized medicine at the local, state, and national levels. I believe this experience will allow me to serve KAFP members by addressing issues from various angles and from a place of understanding. Just as we use a multi-level approach to care for our patients, I believe that the KAFP must bring a multi-level approach to the challenges we face in health care.

From my first week of medical school, I have been involved with the KAFP by serving on the KAFP board as a medical student, resident, and district representative. At the national level, I was the resident member of the Board of Directors for both the AAFP and the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine. I recently had the opportunity to be on an AAFP task force to evaluate maintenance of certification. In addition, I served on an expert panel for the AAFP to explore alternative payment models. As the Gleason Fellow of the Kansas Medical Society this year, my experience in organized medicine reached beyond family medicine. Through the KMS, I was also appointed to a task force to address the opioid crisis.

Practicing full spectrum family medicine minus obstetrics for the last nine years alongside my father has been wonderful! As the practice manager of our rural private practice, I’ve led our clinic through the implementation of two EHRs, attesting to meaningful use, becoming a Patient Centered Medical Home, and now through practice transformation in an accountable care organization. We have also been extensively involved in rural medical education and research through KU Medical Center.

I believe that to change the world, one must start in her own community. Because of this, I helped to create Cultivate Fredonia, a local initiative to improve and grow our community, and was a founding member of the Fredonia Area Community Foundation. Additionally, I was elected to our local school board and currently serve as vice-president. I have been the Wilson County health officer for the last seven years, and I’m the medical director of our local home health and hospice agency.

As a female physician in rural, private practice, the daughter of an international medical graduate, and a minority with experience in multiple areas of medicine and leadership, I feel as though I can represent our membership. I hope to embrace and empower each of our members in our mission to support and serve the family physicians of Kansas as we advance the health of Kansans.