Vision, Voice, Leadership: ADFM’s Next Phase

ADFM EARLY DAYS: CHAIR SUPPORT

ADFM was formed April 10, 1978, when a small band of department chairs signed the Articles of Incorporation in Washington, DC ADFM’s early years were typified by commiseration, support, and golf meetings of Generation One leaders, many of whom were clinician-educators thrust into leadership roles in an emerging clinical field.

GENERATION 2: CHAIR EDUCATION

A major turning point came through a Strategic Planning exercise in 1999. This process galvanized ADFM’s move to become a more organized and productive organization characterized by organizational expansion, a growing sense of focus and purpose, and the finding of a voice for ADFM and its members within academic medicine. It paralleled the transition to Generation Two leaders who came from more academic roots and who aspired to be triple/quadruple threats (clinical care, education, research, and advocacy). ADFM added professional management with the appointment of Ardis K. Davis, MSW, as Executive Director in October 2004. ADFM annual meetings intensified, with chairs teaching chairs how to improve their departments. Leadership cycles were shortened, member participation increased dramatically, and Board committees addressed specific areas of departmental efforts, such as residency, pre-doctoral education, clinical practice, research, and legislative action. ADFM expanded participation by departmental senior administrators, began mentoring future chairs and developing senior leaders, and opened dialogue with academic and health care leaders from in- and outside of family medicine. In addition, ADFM helped advance a common voice for academic family medicine through the establishment of the Council of Academic Family Medicine (CAFM) and via coordination with the AAFP and ABFM.

GENERATION 3: LEADERSHIP

With the maturation of ADFM’s administrative operation, in October 2008 the ADFM Board recognized it can now shift its attention from internal organizational topics to better address issues of critical importance to Departments, the discipline, academic medicine, and the healthcare system. These sentiments led to a vision and mission process with the ADFM Board, facilitated by the outgoing and incoming presidents, with presentation and discussion with members at the February, 2009, Annual Meeting. This process led to ADFM’s new tagline summarizing ADFM’s purpose: “Vision, Voice, Leadership,” and described in Table 1⇓.

ADFM is stepping up to the plate to address critical issues for family medicine including:

• chair leadership pipeline

• primary care workforce

• patient-centered medical homes

• practice redesign

• RRC residency requirement revisions

• student interest in family medicine

• pre-doctoral education core curriculum project (C4)

• family medicine research including clinical and translational science awards (CTSAs)

• academic health centers

• health of communities

• advocacy

As chairs of Departments of Family Medicine, we are passionate about joining with our colleagues across the family of family medicine in improving the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities through clinical care, medical education, research, and advocacy. We must and will succeed in the “Generation Three” mission to ensure improvements in health and the future success of Departments of Family Medicine through Vision, Voice, and Leadership.