This last weekend October 15th-16th hosted the annual CAFP Family Medicine Summit. Unfortunately, no other UCSD students could make it (exams, just went to global health conference, extreme fatigue, etc.) but I was lucky enough to be able to. It was a great conference! There were some great talks about the future and current advancements family medicine is making. Several of the talks pertained to social media (Twitter, facebook, blogs, etc.) and the use of this in advocating for and discussing family medicine. I have always been opposed to ‘twittering’, however I am now a convert. Honestly, it’s a great way to keep a pulse on the issues, and there are some fam med docs out there that are VERY active. Some great people to follow are:

drmikesevilla   (pretty much the Yoda of social networking in family medicine)

AFPJournal

Cafp_familydocs

Familydocwonk

FamMedDocDave (shameless plug for myself)

#fmrevolution  (I really recommend this one!)

     One of the best events at the conference was the California residency fair at the end of the conference. As you will soon find out, it is very difficult to start ranking FM residencies because they are all so very different. This is a great way to try and figure out which program will be best for you. For me, it was also very important to network with residents and residency directors that were present.

     In summary, another great conference. There are always funding sources. It’s a great way to network, catch up with med students and residents you have met elsewhere and schmooze with programs you hope to go to someday. I highly recommend!