AAFP/OAFP

The Ohio Academy of Family Physicians announces its 2019 “Wellness Wednesdays” series and invites you to join.

Wellness Wednesdays is a structured, bi-monthly webinar series focused on enhancing professional and personal wellness through the joy of medicine. Sessions are scheduled on a Wednesday, 11:15 a.m. – noon, and are free to join. Check out the 2019 schedule.

February 20, 2019 | 11:15 a.m. – noon
Precepting: Finding Joy in Teaching the Next Generation
Speaker: Christina Kelly, MD

The first session of the year is led by Christina Kelly, MD, a family physician in North Carolina. Dr. Kelly was an integral team member on the workforce education and development team with the Family Medicine for America’s Health initiative. She currently works with medical students and family medicine residents at F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University in Bethesda, MD, and the Womack Army Medical Center Family Medicine Residency.

She is actively involved in the AAFP, serving as a member of the AAFP Commission on Education. Dr. Kelly completed her family medicine residency and obstetrics fellowship at Tacoma Family Medicine in Tacoma, WA, and graduated medical school from The Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health.

Why a focus on precepting, you ask? According to a 2015 survey from the AAFP, of fourth-year medical students who were AAFP members, 93% of respondents who matched into family medicine residency programs said strong family medicine mentors influenced their specialty choice. Conversely, of those who didn’t match in family medicine, only 60% said they had a strong mentor in the specialty. Mentors and preceptors are key to securing the next generation of family physicians.

Medical students need positive family medicine preceptors early in their medical school career to engage with them in their journey and provide them with insight into the family medicine specialty they may not otherwise receive. “Being surrounded by mentors who demonstrate a passion for family medicine and the
patients they serve has helped to instill that same passion in me. I am so thankful for their guidance and would encourage all family physicians to share their insight with medical students by precepting or mentoring in any capacity they are able. I hope to do so in the future,” shared Katy Anderson, M4, Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Join the webinar on Wednesday, February 20, to learn more about the important role you can play in teaching the next generation of the specialty and how spending even the smallest amount of time with a medical student can re-energize your passion for family medicine.

If you have any questions about this session or the series overall, please contact OAFP staff member Kaitlin McGuffie or call 800.742.7327.