PRESS RELEASE

LEAWOOD, Kan. — The American Academy of Family Physicians has named 19 medical school Family Medicine Interest Groups as the 2015 Program of Excellence Award winners for their outstanding activities in generating interest in family medicine.  Award winners will be honored July 31 during the AAFP National Conference of Family Medicine Residents and Medical Students in Kansas City.

FMIGs are medical school-sponsored, student and faculty-run organizations that give medical students a chance to learn more about family medicine through regular meetings, workshops, leadership development opportunities, and community and clinical experiences. The Program of Excellence Awards recognize FMIGs for their efforts to promote interest in family medicine and family medicine programming.

"Attracting medical students to the specialty of family medicine is critical to answer the ongoing primary care physician shortage,” said Clif Knight, MD, vice president of education at the AAFP. “Excellent FMIGs such as these award winners are an important component in these efforts. They’re essential to helping medical students understand the professional challenge and satisfaction of being a family physician.
“All of this year’s award winners have done outstanding work giving students the opportunity to put into practice the knowledge they’ve acquired in the classroom, develop leadership skills that will serve them in their future practices and communities, and better understand the vital role that family medicine plays in our health care system.”

The program received a record number of entries this year.