November 14th – 16, 2019 marked the GAFP’s 71st Annual CME Meeting and Exhibition in Stone Mountain, Georgia.  Hosting more than 350 family physicians and other health care professionals at the Atlanta Evergreen Marriott Resort, the GAFP offered countless CME and exhibits to attendees while offering many opportunities to network with colleagues.

With a wide variety of clinical lectures attendees were able to obtain up to 46 AAFP prescribed credits on topics pertinent to the broad range of practice needs of our members.

This year, the GAFP offered CME lectures on Prevention of Influenza, Heart Failure Management, and Type II Diabetes in Children & Adolescents.  The interactive lectures provided attendees the opportunity to discuss challenges, best practices, and strategies related to these conditions.

Again, this year, we offered four Knowledge Self-Assessment Modules (KSAs) to attendees to fulfill the Maintenance of Certification, Part II – Self-Assessment and Lifelong Learning using the ABFM’s new point system.  More than 100 attendees successfully completed the Childhood Illness, Care of the Vulnerable Elderly, Hypertension, and Women’s Health Care modules.

Throughout the Annual Meeting, attendees had the opportunity to win several prizes by participating in the passport game and simply interacting with our Industry Partners when visiting the Social & Information Hub.  Also, the GAFP PAC raffled off the chance to win a gift certificate for a Big Green Egg, valued at $900.  Congratulations to Dr. Earl Martin of Waycross on his big green win!

GAFP Members Shared A Magical Night Celebrating Family Medicine

The Magic of Family Medicine filled the air during the 2019 All Member Party. President-Elect Dr. Jeff Stone set the mood by making a magical appearance and saluting his peers for the magic they perform everyday as family medicine physicians.  The audience was further memorized by Bob the Magic Man’s mind-blowing tricks and gravity defying acts of levitation.  Laughter and tons of networking provided a magical night for members.

Overall, attendees deemed the meeting a success and offered the following comments on their post-meeting evaluations:

Conference and lecturers were excellent!

Thank you for an excellent meeting.

Quality of presenters excellent. Content appropriate and up to date. Immediately useful to my practice

Food at the event was excellent

Research Poster Competition Winners

Special Congratulations go to the winners of the 2019 Research Poster Competition.  This year the Education and Research committee received over 40 submissions from pre-med and medical students, residents and fellow physicians.  For the first time, top winners of each category were provided an opportunity to present their research on the main stage to all meeting attendees.  All submissions were exceptional and deserve recognition.  To review all submissions, visit https://www.eposters.net/sponsor/georgia-academy-of-family-physicians-2019-annual-research-poster-presentation-1.

Pre-Medical Student Winners

1st: Assessment of the Relationship Between Healthy Literacy and Diabetes Self-Management Among Patients Served by Federally Qualified Health Centers in Southwest Georgia

Authors: Chase Cottle, Darshti Patel, Everett Jackson, MPH, Henry N. Young, PhD

Affiliation: Southwest GA Area Health Education Center

2nd: Associations Between Perceived Barriers to Papanicolaou Testing at Federally Qualified Health Centers in Southwest Georgia

Authors: Kristi Guerrero, MaKayla Paulk, Abby Unger

Affiliation: Southwest GA Area Health Education Center

3rd:  Assessing the Relationship Between Health Literacy, Asthma Self-Management Knowledge, and Asthma Control

Authors: Macy Rowan, Slater Cruz,Trey Doss,Bree Green

Affiliation: Southwest GA Area Health Education Center

Medical Student Winners

1st: Knowledge, Attitudes, Beliefs and Practices related to Chronic Diseases Among Caribbean People in Metro Atlanta

Authors: David E. W. Daniels, Jennifer Rooke, M.D., MPH, FACOEM, FACPM, Folashade Omole, M.D., FAAFP

Affiliation: Morehouse School of Medicine

2nd: Dalton Middle School Medical Camp

Authors: Maria Westerfield, Millie Foster, Giang Ha, Bailey Kernea, Sehar Lalani, Evan Miller

Affiliation: Mercer University School of Medicine

3rd:  Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors Related to Sex and STI Prevention in the Elderly Population

Authors: Amore Jones, Folashade Omole, MD, FAAFP, Chivon Brown Stubbs, MD

Affiliation: Morehouse School of Medicine

Resident Winners

1st: Improved Pain Control and Interpersonal Relationships Among Older Adults Receiving Buprenorphine Therapy: Result of a Pilot Study

Authors: Antonio Gobenciong, Amanda Abraham, S. Harris, J Aaron Johnson, Keerthika Ravikumar, Omar Ahmad, Mansi Amin, Jorge del Rio, Parth K. Patel, Huma Rahman, Kirk Von Sternberg, Mary Marden Velasquez, J. Paul Seale

Affiliation: Navicent Health Family Medicine Residency Program

2nd: Mental Health Needs in Older Patients with Opioid Use Disorder: Concurrent Illness Rates and Interest in Telehealth

Authors: Hubert Pare MD, Amanda Abraham PhD, Samantha Harris MPA, J Aaron Johnson PhD, Keerthika Ravikumar, Omar Ahmad MD, Mansi Amin MD, Jorge del Rio MD, Parth K. Patel MD, Hma Rahman MD,Kirk Von Sternberg PhD, Mary Marden Velasquez PhD, J. Paul Seale MD

Affiliation: Medical Center of Central GA, Mercer University

3rd:  Example of an Eerie Ear Examination in the Elderly

Authors: William Hartley PGY III, Tiera Barron, MD and Peggy Bergrab, MD

Affiliation: Phoebe Family Medicine Residency

Fellow Physicians Winners

1st: Consider Improving Cognitive Impairment with the Revival of Neurosteroid Supplementation

Authors: Sarah N Choo-Yick, MD, Florence T Baralatei, MD

Affiliation: Navicent Health / Mercer University Department of Family Medicine

2nd: Barriers in obesity management: A Comparison of CERA survey and our current practice.

Author: Linu Joseph, MD

Affiliation: Northeast Georgia Medical Center, Family Medicine Residency

The meeting’s success was based on the hard work, volunteer time, and efforts of the Education and Research Committee…

The 2019 Education and Research Committee members were

Theresa Jacobs, MD – Chair

Ken Howard, MD – Vice Chair

Dolapo Babalola, MD

Wanda Gumbs, MD

Ambar Kulshreshtha, MD

Carl McCurdy, MD

Oguchi Nwosu, MD

Kuna Okong, MD

Monica Parker, MD

Dean Seehusen, MD

Harry Strothers, MD

Susan Thomas, MD

Johnathan Henderson, MD

Loy “Chip” Cowart, MD – Executive Committee Liaison

We would like to thank all of our attendees for their continued support of GAFP educational activities as we strive to offer quality CME to our members and guests.

Mark your calendars now for the 2020 Summer Family Medicine Weekend, which is scheduled June 5-7, 2020 at the Sandestin Golf & Beach Resort in Miramar, Florida. Additional meeting information will be available in early 2020.