Oklahomans Attend 2023 Family Medicine Advocacy Summit   OUCOM MS3 and Crawford Advocacy Fellow Tate Atkinson and FamMedPAC Chair Steve Crawford had the opportunity to attend this year’s FMAS – Family Medicine’s Advocacy Summit in Washington, DC from May 21-23. The meeting was attended by over 270 AAFP members, an increase of 20% from last year. Tate got to spend time at a student and resident reception prior to the general welcome reception Sunday evening meeting with colleagues from around the country. The next day they heard from a diverse series of speakers including US Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Rachel Levine, MD, Congressman Andy Harris, MD (R-MD), Congresswoman Yadira Caraveo, MD (D-CO), and CMS Principal Deputy Administrator & Chief Operating Officer Jonathan Blum. On Tuesday, Tate & Steve headed out to Capitol Hill to provide our pro-Family Medicine message to our congressional legislators including Senators James Lankford & Markwayne Mullin, Congresswoman Stephanie Bice and Congressman Tom Cole. Our advocacy was focused on 3 important areas including reducing the administrative burden on physicians, reforming Medicare’s physician payment system so that Family Physicians can continue to afford to care for this growing population, and investing in strategies that strengthen and diversify the Family Physician pipeline, especially in underserved areas, and bring accountability to federal GME programs to assess if spending is aligned with workforce needs. One exciting event happened on Monday evening when Tate & Steve visited The Old Ebbit Grill for dinner across from the White House – when they returned to their hotel, they saw on the news that a disturbed individual had attempted to breach the White House gates in a rented panel truck just after they left the Grill, resulting in an evacuation of all buildings surrounding that area including the Grill. Both Tate & Steve made it home safely. They both hope more Oklahoma members can attend next year’s FMAS to help advocate for Family Medicine. Dr. Crawford also hopes that more members will contribute to the only organization that promotes Family Medicine in Washington, FamMedPAC. As he says, “If you are not at the table, then you are on the menu!” If you would like to know more about FamMedPAC or more importantly, contribute, please visit https://fammedpac.aafp.org/ or scan this code with your smartphone:

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