Erika Roshanravan, MD, has been selected as the 2020 Hero of Family Medicine. This award goes to a CAFP member who has gone above and beyond the call of duty to advocate for patients, colleagues and the family medicine specialty, and Erika has done all this and more. Erika moved from Washington State in August 2018. From the moment she came to California, she has been advocating for our family physicians and patients. When the anti-vaxxers came out in full force, she headed to the Capitol to testify in support of immunization legislation and represented CAFP in a vaccination advocacy video. With 2018 mid-term elections coming up, she not only donated to FP-PAC, she attended numerous fundraisers representing us, including for Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and Senator Richard Pan, MD. She also helped support the 2019 Women’s Caucus at a “Women of the Year” event for legislators. As the Public Charge rule was rolling out, Erika spoke with reporters about the adverse effect it would have on patients, and was quoted in the Sacramento Bee. Her external advocacy was equally matched by her internal work on behalf of family medicine. She has helped usher in a reinvigoration and merger of the local Sacramento/Yolo chapter of CAFP. As the local chapter president, she launched a speaker series to discuss everything from health to homelessness. She has served as delegate and co-convener for the AAFP National Conference of Constituency Leaders and is a member of the CAFP 2019-2020 Ready to Lead: Building Women Family Physician Leaders class. The list goes on and on. That is why, because of her dedication to CAFP, her patients, her community and family medicine, we are proud to award Dr. Erika Roshanravan our 2020 Hero of Family Medicine Award!
