American Board of Family Medicine to Sponsor Forum on Shortage of Rural Primary Care Physicians, General Surgeons

More than 60 million Americans live in rural areas and are unable to get timely, needed primary care and surgical services due to a shortage of both primary care physicians and general surgeons.

On July 14, the American Board of Family Medicine will sponsor and the Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies in Family Medicine and Primary Care will host, "Improving Rural Health Care Teams: Preparing Family Physicians and General Surgeons for Rural Areas," a forum that will highlight solutions to these issues.

Despite an increased interest in family medicine since passage of the Affordable Care Act, the American Academy of Family Physicians projects a shortage of 39,000 family physicians by 2020. According to the American College of Surgeons Health Policy Research Institute, rural America had 1,300 general surgery vacancies in 2009, and the supply of general surgeons is expected to fall between 7 and 10 percent by 2025. The causes of the problems are complex, but solutions are possible when primary care physicians and general surgeons collaborate in training and practice.

The forum will feature leaders from the American Board of Family Medicine and the American Board of Surgery, who will address opportunities for innovation in training and practice. Experts in rural family medicine training and in rural hospital administration will join them in sharing ideas about preparing family physicians and general surgeon teams for rural areas - and the policy options for getting there.

WHAT:
Primary Care Forum: Improving Rural Health Care Teams: Preparing Family Physicians and General Surgeons for Rural Areas

WHO:
Warren Newton, MD, Chair of the American Board of Family Medicine
Tom Cogbill, MD, Vice-Chair of the American Board of Surgery
Ted Epperly, MD, Past President of the American Academy of Family Physicians
Timothy Putnam, DHA, MBA, Chief Executive Officer of Margaret Mary Community Hospital

WHEN:
July 14, 2011
Breakfast served 8 a.m. EDT
Presentations 8:30 - 9:30 a.m.
Open Discussion (optional): 9:30 - 10:30 a.m.

WHERE:
The Monocle Restaurant (Capital Hill-Union Station)
107 D Street NE
Washington, DC 20002

Please let us know that you are attending. Contact Kim Epperson at (202) 331-3360, Ext. 2602, or kepperson@aafp.org.