My apologies, Jan. I was waiting for approval from the steering committee and leaders and forgot to sent it in. Fortunately some AAFP info has changed and we have had the recent meeting (rural GME) and the report is more accurate and focused.

The STFM Group on Rural health met at the annual meeting and continued to expand the web site and email listing. Members were active in presenting at the STFM Annual and other FP meetings. The Group participated in Balanced Budget Act reform efforts and the coordination of the Rural Graduate Medical Education conference in San Antonio. Participants evaluated this conference as one of the best rural conferences ever. Group leaders met with AAFP Staff to improve communication, but AAFP rural contacts have changed again. New efforts have begun with some enthusiasm as AAFP has provided a full time rural coordinator with secretarial support in the new academy offices.

Goals for next year include merging efforts with all of those involved in rural medical education in medical schools, residencies, foundations, and governments to form a new organization that can focus on rural medical education. Goals for this group include further expansions of the web site with its on-line journal, an admissions reform task force at the national level, and increased coordination with AAFP on various projects. These include an improved list serve for rural medical education and rural clinicians and a Rural Student Interest Group packet for Family Practice Interest Groups, utilizing the new AAFP rural video and existing brochure. The Group will work with the American Board of Family Practice on adoption of some of the newer models of graduate medical education, including the conversion of accelerated programs to underserved purposes, either rural and urban.

The group web site remains at ruralfamilymedicine.org

Barb Doty, M.D. and Jeff Stearns, M.D. co-chairs bdoty@micronet.net, jstearns@fammed.wisc.edu

Robert Bowman, M.D. and Deb Phillips, M.D., communications rcbowman@atsu.edu, dphilli@adams.net

Regarding the accelerated proposal:

Have been working with two med school regarding a replication of our Accelerated Rural Training Program. It is a 3-3-1 with the last year being a rural procedural fellowship. After 3 yrs of grads, the program has the same 75% rural grad rate as our RTT programs, despite 7 years nearly all in Omaha. The ABFP has been reticent to expand due to complaints from community programs. ABFP never required any type of underserved career pledge, as UNMC did with its program. Frankly there is no reason to give kids a year break in the typical 3-3 accelerated program without requiring something. My hope is to work with STFM, RRC, and ABFP to convert some existing accelerated programs to rural (or urban in some schools). I also hope to get permission to start a few new spots. Some funding would be nice and will pursue this with feds and foundations. Jim Stageman will present his work with the ARTP at San Antonio. The success of the program is all his with great curriculum, selections, and a superb final year with lots of procedures, scopes, ob, neonatal, and anesthesia.

Regarding the admissions task force:

Need to coordinate an effort to make medical school leaders accountable for existing research regarding graduation of rural physicians. Need a packet and possibly some folks to make visits, obviously need some funding. If we don't counter the push toward board scores, accreditation, and research/scholars, there will be few left to consider service careers such as rural medicine. If things get bad economically, it will be slash and burn time with med school classes. Studies show that this would be very bad for fp and likely rural for years (Declines in Class sizes result in bad fp match).