The American Board of Family Medicine Foundation Inaugurates the G. Gayle Stephens Keystone Conference Series

May 15, 2015 (PRLEAP.COM) Health News
May 16,2015 - The American Board of Family Medicine Foundation will host the fourth G. Gayle Stephens Keystone Conference Series June 5-7, 2015 at the Keystone Resort in Colorado.

The 2015 conference will follow the basic purpose and strategies of the first three Keystone Conferences and will focus on the question, "What promises will a personal physician make to her/his patients going forward in the evolving health care system of the United States, particularly in terms of when and where they will be there for their patients?"

This conference will feature conversations stimulated by four plenary speakers: Dr. Rosemary Stevens, Dr. Will Miller, Dr. Kim Griswold, and Dr. David Loxterkamp. Most of the conference will be streamed live at www.gaylestephensconference.com where it can be viewed by those interested. In addition, to participate from offsite, the conference will be available on Twitter using the hashtag, #keystoneIV.

Dr. Gayle Stephens (August 6, 1928-February 20, 2014), one of the founders of family medicine in the United States, provided consistent intellectual leadership that profoundly impacted the specialty. He connected history, philosophy, religion, psychiatry, the family, the community, and the sciences to the practice of medicine, and he explained how family medicine was a "counter-culture" within medicine, manifested in personal relationships and rooted in social change. He particularly advanced the importance of relationships in clinical practice and the role of the personal physician as a trusted and trustworthy agent for patients.

In addition to his institutional leadership, textbooks, scientific articles, essays, visiting professorships, and invited lectures, Gayle initiated an unusual invitational conference, known as "The Keystone Conference," where a relatively small group of colleagues could discuss ideas and discern important challenges and opportunities meriting the attention of family physicians and medicine as a profession. The third Keystone Conference inspired the Future of Family Medicine project that guided family medicine through the first years of the 21st century. In an effort to support the continuation of Dr. Stephen's life-long work and service, the American Board of Family Medicine Foundation established "The G. Gayle Stephens Keystone Conference Series" in 2014. The aim of this series is to continue his legacy of occasional, carefully constructed, invitational conferences focusing on relevant, challenging, perhaps neglected topics worthy of substantial consideration by family physicians, other health care professionals, and the public.

The American Board of Family Medicine is honored to carry on the tradition of the Keystone Conferences and deeply grateful to the Stephens family for their permission to use their name to assure such reflective efforts continue in perpetuity.

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