MISSISSIPPI ACADEMY OF FAMILY PHYSICIANS

The MAFP room block of discounted rates for Annual Meeting closes on Friday, June 21 and our Early Bird Registration Discount ends July 1! Make your plans now to ensure you lock in those discounted rates!

Join us in Sandestin, Florida July 20 - 24!

MAFP Exhibit Hall is FULL so get ready to visit with over 80 organizations who support family medicine. Their support enhances our meeting and helps keep our registration low so please take time to thank them for being a part of our meeting.

CME Topics Include:

• New Drug Update Part One — C. Wayne Weart, PharmD, BCPS, GASHP, FAPha
• New Drug Update Part Two — C. Wayne Weart, PharmD, BCPS, GASHP, FAPha
• Shedding Light on Type 2 Diabetes: weight Management, Co-morbidities, & Future Breakthroughs — Keisha Harvey Mansfield, MD and Archana R. Sadhu, MD, FACE
• AAFP Update — Dr. John Meigs, AAFP Past President
• Navigating Narcolepsy in Family Medicine: Patient-Centered Strategies to Optimize the Experience and Outcomes of Treatment — Michael J. Thorpy, MD
• Staying in the Solution: How Do We Implement Evidence in Obesity Care — Chuck Vega, MD, FAAFP, and Donna H. Ryan, MD
• Calling Primary Care Partners to Action in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: Shortening the Time to Diagnosis for Improved Patient Outcomes — Theodore P. Abraham, MD, FACC
• Elevating Patient Care: Early Detection and Evidence-based Pharmacotherapy for Postpartum Depression in Primary Care — Sarah Nagle-Yang, MD
• Cases in the Community: Optimizing Treatment and Considering Weight Management as a Primary Goal in People with Type 2 Diabetes — Javier Morales, MD, FACP, FACE
• ABFM Update — Gary LeRoy, MD, FAAFP
• Treatment of Obesity for Primary Care: From Diagnosis to Care Management Unlock the Power to Transform Lives — Elizabeth Bauer
• Moving the Needle in Older Adults: A Provider Townhall to Enhance Vaccine Uptake — Keisha Harvey Mansfield, MD
• Asthma and the Critical Role of Primary Care in Improving Patient Outcomes — Louis Kurtizky, MD
• Show Me the Money: Compliantly Getting Paid for What You Do — Nick Ulmer, MD, CPC
• KSA: Care of Children — Drs. Lee Greer, Jennifer Gholson, and John Mitchell

Social Events Include:

• Yoga
• MAFP Family Fun Night at the Diamond
• Sunrise Devotionals
• Golf Tournament
• Family Crab Hunt
• Loot and Scoot in Exhibit Hall
• Spouse and Kids Bingo
• Raffle Items
• Split the Pot Fundraiser
• 80 Exhibitors

We are please to have Dr. Keisha Harvey Mansfield joining us for Annual Meeting where she will present Moving the Needle in Older Adults: A Provider Townhall to Enhance Vaccine Uptake.

After Dr. Mansfield's presentation, attendees will be able to:

• Accurately assess the health burden of vaccine-preventable diseases, including RSV, pneumococcal disease, and herpes zoster (shingles) in older adults, and its impact on health disparities and healthcare systems.
• Employ the latest clinical data, encompassing safety profiles, efficacy rates, and administration schedules for new and emerging vaccines in accordance with guideline recommendations
• Correctly apply evidence-based approaches to address patient-level challenges, barriers, and perceptions related to vaccines in older adults, especially among individuals from historically marginalized communities, to support vaccine uptake and completion.

Keisha Harvey Mansfield is a family medicine physician, obesity medicine expert, diplomat of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, and life coach. She is the founder of Dr. K's Family Medicine in Bogalusa, LA. Bogalusa is a rural area where 37% of individuals have obesity, 49.8% have hypertension, 54.4% have hyperlipidemia, 13% are diabetic, and 29% are smokers. Therefore, she devotes much of her time to educating patients on small lifestyle changes that can lead to longstanding results. Dr. K's Family Medicine is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that offers affordable, comprehensive healthcare despite an individual's ability to pay. 

Dr. Harvey-Mansfield completed her medical education at Meharry Medical College. She completed her residency at the LSU Rural Family Medicine program in Bogalusa where she also received awards in compassion and leadership. Shortly after completing her residency, she was compelled to go into private practice because she wanted more autonomy and freedom to practice medicine in an impactful way. 

Dozens of raffle items will be on display in the exhibit hall beginning Monday morning, so visit the exhibit hall and purchase raffle tickets from the Academy Ambassador booth. Have items to contribute? We ask that donations be $100 of more in value and we are happy to advertise your name on the item at the table. Below are just a few of the items you will see up for raffle. Contact Beth Embry for more information.

MAFP's Public Awareness Director, Caley Dawkins, and Outreach Coordinator, Sharon Holmes Dove, spent the day at UMMC School of Medicine presenting Tar Wars and the Mississippi Academy of Family Physicians to the incoming Mississippi Rural Physicians Scholars. Over the next year, these scholars will travel to rural schools across Mississippi to present Tar Wars to 4th and 5th grade students as we strive for a smoke-free Mississippi! If you know of a rural school that would like to get on the list for a Tar Wars presentation next year, let us know and we will help connect them with a presenter.

Please join us in welcome Beth Wilson to MAFP as Foundation and Workforce Director. Beth will work closely with our students, residents, medical schools, and residencies as she carries out the mission of the Foundation. She also serve as the liaison to our residency coordinators to support their strong work.

Beth previously worked at the University of Mississippi Medical Center for thirteen years, with ten years of experience in the Department of Family Medicine. She excelled in various roles, culminating in the position of Education Administrator in Student Programs. For the past three years, Beth has continued to contribute to the institution's success as an Education Administrator within the Office of Medical Education in the School of Medicine, demonstrating a strong commitment to enhancing medical education and supporting the academic growth of future healthcare professionals. In addition, she served on several committees for the school and university. She also completed a Doctorate of Education in Higher Education at the University of Mississippi in 2023. Her research focused on increasing rural medicine in medical school curricula to improve the number of students choosing a primary care specialty after graduation. Beth lives with her husband and two children in Brandon, MS. 

Welcome, Beth! We are excited to have you join the MAFP team!

Without a doubt, signing a physician employment contract is one of the most consequential decisions a family physician can make. It’s essential that physicians understand the terms of their contract and know how to negotiate to protect their interests and ensure their career success and well-being.

Fortunately, the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) has new tools and resources to help family physicians navigate the entire employment contracting experience—from choosing a knowledgeable lawyer to help review contract terms to negotiating key contract provisions, including your dues for Academy membership.

Some simple tips to get started include:

• Physicians should seek out experts to fill knowledge gaps. Hiring legal and financial advisers who understand the physician’s needs and desires is fundamental to achieving a positive outcome. Knowing how to choose an experienced lawyer is a great place to start.
• Preparation is the best strategy for successful contract negotiation. Physicians should review their proposed contract to identify the most important items to negotiate, as well as what to avoid. A member-exclusive checklist can help identify possible concerns.
• There’s no substitute for the written word. Principal elements of a contract should be spelled out in writing. Whenever possible, physicians should avoid relying on an employer’s verbal assurances and promises.
• Physicians need to decide what they can live with—and what they can’t. If an employer won’t negotiate on a contract provision that’s important to the physician, it may be time to walk away from the agreement.
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Visit the AAFP’s updated Physician Employment Contracting webpage for more information about these and other resources.

Winners of the 2024 Family Medicine Leads Scholarships for the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) National Conference of Family Medicine Residents and Medical Students (National Conference) have been awarded, congratulations to all of those who were selected!

The AAFP’s Family Medicine Leads program provides $600 scholarships to help cover out-of-pocket registration and travel expenses for students and residents to attend National Conference, Thursday-Saturday, August 1–3 in Kansas City, MO. These scholarships are made possible because of donations from family physicians across the country. This year, 240 scholarships were awarded, including 20 additional scholarships made possible by the generosity of donors to the Douglas and Mary Henley Fund.

Congratulations to the following Mississippi recipients of a 2024 Family Medicine Leads Scholarship:

• Syed Mohammed Amanuddin William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine
• Charmin Guy University of Mississippi School of Medicine

Family Medicine Leads Scholarships for National Conference are composed of the following categories: Early Career Student, Student or Resident Primary Care Champion, and Family Medicine Interest Group Leaders. A full list of scholarship recipients is available from AAFP.

Mississippi has the 4^th highest incidence of laryngeal cancer in the U.S. Early symptoms are often attributed to other common symptoms of a cold, sore throat or benign neck mass. Primary care physicians are the front line of early cancer detection. Become an expert at spotting the early signs of laryngeal and other head and neck cancers and help us intervene early and save lives.