Sutter Sacramento Residency Program Director Marion Leff, MD was an invited guest at today's Health Care Workforce Access Select Committee hearing led by Assemblymember Ed Hernandez, OD (D - Baldwin Park). Dr. Leff detailed the challenges facing family medicine residency programs and suggested ways California could actively support the primary care infrastructure. Two key proposals would be to increase support for medical school loan repayment programs and enhance Song Brown physician training funding.

Also invited was CAFP Foundation Trustee Kiki Nocella, PhD (pictured).  Dr. Nocella advocated for an update to the 1994 Memorandum of Understanding (which CAFP cultivated) between the state and the UC system to ensure adequate funding of family medicine and primary care training. The hearing also addressed: ways to increase primary care residency slots; improved transparency and data availability to facilitate model training programs and enhance the state's primary care capacity; and identify the most promising opportunities for stabilizing and/or developing programs in high need areas.

The 2010 Annual Scientific Assembly program is really coming together - we've just added three new faculty members to our roster, each teaching a session that meets the practice gaps CAFP members have identified.  This is going to be the meeting of the year and you won't want to miss it. 

Register today and make sure you get regular updates as the program continues to grow.  Complete details on the meeting, including hotel accommodations, transportation and the full agenda, is available here. See you May 15-16 in San Francisco!

New sessions:

The Physician as Patient: Lessons from the Other Side of the Stethoscope

Jeff Cain, MD (pictured), Colorado family physician and member of the AAFP Board, invites you to walk with him as he shares his journey through a horrendous accident,  life-saving ride in a Flight for Life helicopter, multiple surgeries in his own ICU, and finally to recovery with a new-and-thriving life.

Pediatrics: Three Cases of Common and Not-so-Common Issues in Kids

When was the last time you saw typhus?  Katherine Schaerth, MD, a family physician at Loma Linda, has seen four cases of typhus in the last couple of months.  Using the cases she sees in her practice, she'll discuss fevers of unknown origin, plus MRSA and the newest evidence on UTIs in kids. 

Two Minutes/Two Slides/Two Questions

We've borrowed (not stolen) this interactive event from our colleagues in San Diego - and San Diego family physician David Bazzo, MD will referee.  Six presenters will have two minutes to present two case slides and the audience will have two minutes to ask questions.  Using our Audience Response System, the winning case and presenter will be crowned.  Great fun, great learning.

In mid-January, we told you CAFP would launch a survey about the Patient Centered Medical Home to establish some baseline data about where CAFP members see themselves on the PCMH adoption continuum.  Launch has been delayed by several weeks to incorporate additional information and feedback.

We would be EXTREMELY GRATEFUL if you would take a few minutes to respond when you receive our email and link to the survey.  Your answers will shape our efforts to help you gain greater satisfaction from your medical practice in the future.

In November, CAFP launched the first rural physician survey to ensure member services and communications address specific needs of this member group.  Members with valid emails and working in counties designated as rural by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) were invited to participate.  About 24.6 percent (or 43 out of 175) of rural family physician members completed the 2009 survey.   The top practice challenge among rural physicians is electronic health records (EHR) purchase and implementation at 37 percent. Payment and practice overhead/expenses tied for second at 33 percent.  More than three-fourths of respondents see a need for a rural physician chapter within the CAFP. Fifty-eight percent would like the rural chapter to establish an online community/group for rural physicians as its first priority.  Seventy percent of respondents indicated interest in precepting or teaching medical students in a clinical setting.

Based on preliminary findings, CAFP hopes to develop an online community for California rural physicians through Google or Ning within the next few months. We also plan to launch additional online resources, including new Podcasts and Webinars, focusing on EHR selection and implementation and how best to utilize the federal stimulus funding for health information technology. 

Be sure to check the Spring edition of California Family Physician to read the complete results of this survey.   For more information, contact Membership Manager Jessica Kuo at 415-345-8667.

We are now accepting applications for the 2010 CAFP Foundation Summer Preceptorship Program.  

Forty scholarships will be awarded on a competitive basis, and the selected students, who will spend four full-time weeks during the summer with a California family physician, will receive a $1,200 stipend.  Visit our Web site to learn more about this opportunity and to read past participants' testimonials.  Applications are due by Friday, March 19.  Questions?  Contact Student and Resident Affairs Coordinator Dasha Sakharova at 415-345-8667.

The Health Professions Education Foundation is offering $4,000-$13,000 in scholarships to current medical students and $8,000-$105,000 in loan repayments to current health professionals.

Applicants awarded scholarships or loan repayments are required to provide direct patient care in a medically underserved area for a specified period of time.  The deadline to apply is March 24.  Click here for more information.  If you have any questions or need help completing the application, you are encouraged to participate in one of the upcoming Technical Assistance Calls (all calls are from noon-1 pm):

• Scholarships for Health Professions Education: February 11 and March 1
• Loan Repayments for Health Professions: February 8 and March 4
• Loan Repayments Steve Thompson: February 9 and March 3

CAFP member Walter Mills, MD, Director of the Family Medicine Leadership Institute and Associate Program Director at UCSF Santa Rosa Family Medicine Residency, spoke in front of 25 attendees in Salinas last month about how to "End Medical Homelessness." After his presentation, he offered quick tips about the Patient Centered Medical Home in a podcast available on CAFP's Web site.

Go to CAFP's Podcast page to locate and listen to the Podcast

You can also click here to view the transcript

2/5: San Diego Chapter Annual Installation of Officers Dinner
2/11: Sacramento-El Dorado and Yolo County Chapters Joint Event
2/25: Alameda-Contra Costa County Chapter Inaugural Meeting and Social
3/6-8: Congress of Delegates in Sacramento
5/15-16: 62^nd Annual Scientific Assembly in San Francisco
6/25: San Diego Chapter's 2010 Postgraduate Symposium

February is Women's Heart Disease Awareness Month.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, women comprise nearly 53 percent of all heart disease deaths. The American Heart Association's Web site has great information and resources helpful to your patients (not just women).

This Friday, show your support for Women's Heart Disease Awareness and Go Red by wearing anything red. Ensure your patients know how they can reduce the risk of heart disease.

Executive Vice President Susan Hogeland, CAE and Director of Health Policy Sandy Newman, MPH attended the National Committee on Quality Assurance (NCQA) seminar on How to Facilitate Patient-Centered Medical Home Recognition:  A Hands-On Approach and Analysis Through NCQA's Eyes.  CAFP staffers learned in detail the requirements to meet each of the nine standards representing the characteristics of a Recognized Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH).  Much of the work entailed in achieving recognition will be very helpful to physicians who wish to meet the new Health Information Technology meaningful use standards to qualify for significant funds from Medicare or Medicaid.  To date, there are about 146 NCQA-recognized practices in California. 

The CAFP Board of Directors will meet by conference call this evening and the primary point of discussion will be the report of the Single Payer Task Force, chaired by past president Carla Kakutani, MD.  The Task Force has met twice to address a resolution passed at the 2009 CAFP Congress of Delegates seeking guidance on whether and how pending legislation met principles established for health care reform by the Academy.

The Task Force developed an extensive set of recommendations and potential amendments to the legislation.  Single Payer legislation has been passed previously, but was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger.  A final report will be issued to the Congress of Delegates after the Board acts this evening.

Pat Samuelson, MD will serve as CAFP's representative to the California Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board Healthy Families program Advisory Panel.

The Advisory Panel is comprised of 15 members who serve three-year staggered terms on a voluntary basis. We thank Dr. Samuelson for her service.

CAFP is pleased to announce Michelle Quiogue, MD as our February Member of the Month.  Dr. Quiogue is a board certified family physician.  She moved to Bakersfield to fulfill a National Health Service Corps Scholarship with Clinica Sierra Vista Community Health Centers, and joined the Southern Californian Permanente Medical Group in Bakersfield in 2007.

She recently served as Co-Chair of the CAFP Committee on Continuing Professional Development and has been nominated as the next editor of California Family Physician magazine.  In addition to her role as the President of the Kern County Chapter, Dr. Quiogue has represented her local chapter at the Congress of Delegates and attended the AAFP National Conference of Special Constituencies as a Women's Delegate for California. 

Click here to learn more about Dr. Quiogue.

For more information about the upcoming CAFP Congress of Delegates in March 2010, please go to http://www.familydocs.org/about-cafp/leadership/congress-delegates.php. 

If you would like to become or nominate a future Member of the Month, please contact CAFP Membership Coordinator Sophia Henry.