CAFP is pleased to announce Ashby Wolfe, MD, MPP, MPH as its February Member of the Month.  Dr. Wolfe is being recognized for going above and beyond the call of duty to raise awareness about the unique role family physicians play in health care transformation.  She is passionately committed to actively advocating on behalf of her patients and the specialty of family medicine and inspiring her peers.  Dr. Wolfe is Chief Resident at the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento and holds a medical degree as well as master's degrees in public health policy and public health.  Dr. Wolfe raises health care, public health and health policy issues at www.ashbywolfe.com, the personal blog of this policy wonk/physician who is just beginning her journey in family medicine. Last November, she was featured in a PBS NewsHour story on the primary care physician shortage.  

Thank you, Dr. Wolfe, for doing a phenomenal job of introducing family physicians-in-training to opportunities to advocate for their patients, both inside and outside of the exam room. 

If you would like to become or nominate a future Member of the Month, please contact CAFP Membership Manager Sophia Henry at 415-345-8667.

I am a member of AAFP and CAFP primarily because I want to connect with family physicians and residents within and outside my state.  I am also very interested in health policy that affects the work we do as family physicians, and the CAFP has been a tremendous resource for the advocacy work we are doing here at UC Davis to improve our community's health.

As a Resident member of the CAFP, the resource I find most helpful is the website.  I actually enjoy reviewing the blogs on the website - it's a great way to get updated information and share opinions about changes in local and national approaches to patient centered care.  I also enjoy connecting with fellow residents and students through regular CAFP meetings and workshops.

How do you champion family medicine?  Practicing family medicine provides an opportunity to influence health and wellness on multiple levels; as practitioners we have the ability to address the health concerns of our individual patients as well as health needs of our communities.  I enjoy working with patients one-on-one, and having the opportunity to take those experiences and advocate for my patients at the community level.  Sometimes it is as simple as helping my patient meet with a nurse educator about appropriate nutrition and diet tips, and at other times partnering with community organizations to champion the building of a farmers' market to improve access to fresh fruits and vegetables.  In addition, several of my fellow residents and I created a Health Policy and Advocacy Committee (HealthPAC) at UC Davis, which provides a forum for medical students, residents and faculty from multiple departments to discuss active health policy issues that affect the health and well-being of the families for whom we care.

Are there any projects currently under way you would like residents and FP colleagues to know about?  Presently, many of my fellow residents and I are actively engaged in patient advocacy at the local and state levels.  We have worked very hard over the past two years to formalize a curriculum that teaches policy and advocacy techniques to those residents interested in community health.  We have had the privilege of working closely with the Academy, CAFP Director of Government Relations Tom Riley and his team to enhance our advocacy experience.   We are excited that our Department here at UC Davis will begin a leadership track in July 2011 that will provide select residents with the opportunity to hone advocacy skills as part of an extended clinical curriculum.

What do you love about practicing family medicine?   Family medicine allows me to connect with my patients in many ways, and not just around their experience with a medical condition.  I enjoy the variety as well; there is nothing like seeing an adult patient, then a newborn and then a pregnant woman all in the same morning!

What is your number one tip for surviving residency?  Be patient with yourself, and don't forget to have fun on your day off!

What is the biggest opportunity or challenge you see in the specialty in the next five years?  One of the challenges we face as a specialty is how to integrate the medical home concepts into training environments in a practical way.  As the model evolves, who is ultimately responsible for care, and how do we teach these concepts and learn in a way that is meaningful?  We as family physicians are uniquely positioned to address both individual and community health, and I believe having exposure to the PatientCentered Medical Home (PCMH) in residency is an essential aspect of learning for new trainees.  We have a great opportunity to enhance the patient experiences with the health system, and should feel comfortable advocating for change when our experience with the existing system is not beneficial to our patients or ourselves as providers.

What are your experiences with using the PCMH model to optimize patient outcomes? I have always been a big fan of community-based health; it is one of the primary reasons I pursued family medicine. Work within my own UC Davis Department of Family and Community Medicine has been influenced by the concepts fundamental to the medical home.  Our clinic has based teaching on the four elements of the medical home described by the AAFP:  practice organization, quality measurement, health information technology and patient experience.  For example, in terms of practice organization, we have team meetings before each half-day clinic session.  Residents, faculty, staff and our coding and billing staff meet at the clinic nursing stations to discuss a pertinent clinical topic of the day.  Following that discussion we break off into "teamlets." We huddle for 10 minutes to start our clinic day and help us serve our patients better by improving patient flow and team communication.  We track our patients' experiences with timeliness and their perception of their experiences, which provides feedback for our process.  This is just one of the ways our clinic strives to be more team-oriented and patient-centered.

Whom do you look to as a family medicine champion role model?  One of the people I look to as a role model is my program director at UC Davis, Dr. Tom Balsbaugh.  He always endeavors to stay positive and encouraging, even while dealing with a difficult patient or a health system challenge.  This isn't easy to do in a busy clinic environment, but somehow he manages!

How do you successfully balance family life with family medicine? I learned early in my intern year that getting work done the same day is very important - which then allows me to take time (especially on the weekends) for myself!