President's Message
JUNE 2023
Hannah Biederman, MD Thank you for the opportunity to serve as president of the Massachusetts AAFP. It has been a fast but productive three months so far and I am very much looking forward to the year ahead. Working with the leadership team here at MassAFP has been a joy. It is a true pleasure to work with such a passionate and hard working team. For me, this work is rejuvenating. I love being a family physician- it is a calling, a passion, and a privilege. The problem is, and I know many of us feel the same way, that while the visits with patients are what we thrive doing, there is so much waiting for us at our computers and in our pile of papers in between each and every one of those visits. We all know there quite literally is not enough time in the day to meet the demand. I don't know about you, but I simply can't sit quietly in a system that does not work. That is likely how I ended up moving into the role of president of this wonderful academy. We need a system that works for us and our patients, prioritizes family medicine, and thereby the health and wellness of our country. So let's work towards this together! So far this year, we hosted a spring refresher that was a huge success. We had a packed audience and fantastic speakers. It was great to see everyones' smiling faces. We were joined by the AAFP CEO, Shawn Martin, who spoke to the shared challenges and opportunities for change for family physicians across the country. Our town hall panel took the conversations we are all having locally to the next level- sharing ideas for legislation and ways to improve the pathway to family medicine as well as primary care payment reforms here in Massachusetts. Our fundraising raffle was successful (and fun) and will help us sponsor medical students to attend national leadership conferences this year. Our legislative and public health committee is working hard to make sure family medicine is not only at the table but a leading voice in legislative issues across the state. Key members of our team have met with state senators and representatives and are working on coalition building with organizations that share a vision of what primary care can and should be. We will be joined this summer by national AAFP leaders to discuss the family medicine pathway- focusing on how medical students with ideals and passion maintain those views and choose family medicine as their career choice. A topic that we know calls for big ideas and solutions. For anyone who wants to get involved in the MassAFP, I welcome your voice and your enthusiasm! You are welcome to join any of our committees including the Legislative and Public Health Committee, the Education Committee, and our new Medical Student and Resident Committee by reaching out to our Executive Director Tricia Kennedy at tkennedy@mms.org. We are forming a working group to prepare for an exciting regional conference coming up in 2026 that Massachusetts will host and we are also preparing to start a committee to focus on national AAFP leadership avenues. Every spring we hold an advocacy day at the State House and our annual CME Spring Refresher event. This summer, please join us for our family friendly book club picnic on August 13th! Family Physicians are some of my favorite people in the world and I hope to see many more of you in the coming months! Sincerely, Hannah Biederman, MD |
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