Advocacy in ADFM and Beyond
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." - Martin Luther King Jr.
Understand current key issues related to advocacy on the STFM website.
History and Charge of CAFM
ADFM is part of the Council of Academic Family Medicine (CAFM) along with STFM, NAPCRG and AFMRD.
The four academic family medicine organizations - Association of Departments of Family Medicine (ADFM), the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors (AFMRD), the North American Primary Care Research Group (NAPCRG), and the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) launched the Council of Academic Family Medicine (CAFM) in January 2008. CAFM coordinates activities across organizations to promote strategic initiatives that support academic family medicine. More details on CAFM can be found in the advocacy resource section below.
Goals of CAFM
- Provide a unified voice for academic family medicine
- Provide a structure for working together more effectively
- Provide a place for outside organizations to come to collaborate
History and Charge of AFMAC
ADFM is also part of the Academic Family Medicine Advocacy Committee (AFMAC), which involves ADFM along with STFM, ABFM, AAFP, NAPCRG and AFMRD.
Functionally, the Academic Family Medicine Advocacy Committee (AFMAC) has been in existence since 1992, although under a different name and auspice. Membership has historically been the four CAFM organizations and the AAFP. In February of 2014, the American Board of Family Medicine became a member. The founding premise behind AFMAC is that the “family” of family medicine jointly develops policy and works together with respect to academic family medicine legislative and regulatory issues. Working together through AFMAC on academic issues ensures all voices are heard and is in the best interests of the discipline. Working together effectively on academic initiatives, coordinating overlapping and duplicative efforts, and speaking with a unified voice are standards the committee and its member organizations will aspire to. These standards provide greater opportunities and facilitate greater impact than working separately does. More details on AFMAC can be found in the advocacy resource section below.
