One of the most common reasons members give for joining a professional association is the opportunity to be a part of an exclusive community of peers.
This is certainly true of the Association of family Medicine Residency Directors (AFMRD), whose e-mail discussion list (commonly referred to as “the Listserv”) is ranked as the most valuable membership benefit, year after year.
Former AFMRD Board President Perry Pugno, MD, MPH, described the reason this community is so vital to the program director: “Part clinician, part administrator, part teacher, these individuals had—and still have—a unique position within their medical communities. A director’s job is a lonely one. Physician colleagues see the director as a representative of the administration; to management, he or she is a physician. There are few peers within the hospital with whom to talk.”
Like others in the family of family medicine organizations, the AFMRD has made a commitment to improving family medicine education by providing a community where members can obtain the support and resources they need to achieve excellence. One way we have long accomplished this is through a members-only e-mail list. This older technology, however, had significant restrictions on its structure and search capabilities, and members’ feedback included frustration with the limitations of the tool. In fact, one of the most common prequels to an e-mail posting on the AFMRD e-mail list was, “I know this was just on the Listserv, but…” Yet, it remained invaluable to our members for its capacity to connect those sharing the same struggles.
In late 2015, the AFMRD invested in a powerful online platform that preserves the camaraderie of the e-mail list—and eliminates many of the frustrations. The new technology enables members to maintain a broad sense of community, and delivers more personalized and improved searchable information than ever before.
This investment, which stemmed from ambitious communication and technology objectives outlined in our strategic plan, opens up exciting new opportunities for communication, collaboration, and innovation.
Among the features we have activated thus far are the following:
A robust discussion forum with all the e-mail convenience of an e-mail list, plus the bonus of online access to discussion threads and searchable archives
Calendars personalized to each member’s involvement in the organization
A member directory that can be searched by location and areas of special interest
A structured toolbox, including a section where members can easily upload documents for sharing
A central landing page, placing all resources within easy reach
With these new tools, the AFMRD aims to support a sense of common mission and purpose in training the primary care workforce that our country so desperately needs. We hope to meet the needs around a myriad of educational and administrative topics, from how to teach ultrasound to job descriptions to how to manage the problem resident.
In addition to bringing new technology to the community, the AFMRD is pleased to be welcoming a new group of members into the community.
In light of the new single accreditation system, the AFMRD has partnered with the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians (ACOFP) to offer memberships to program directors of AOA family medicine residency programs, many of whom will be seeking ACGME accreditation.
The Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors envisions a vibrant community of residency directors engaged in excellence, mutual assistance, and innovation to meet the health care needs of the public. We believe these recent expansions are huge, strategic steps towards serving that vibrant community.
- © 2016 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.