KC Meeting Update

Greetings from Kansas City! I'm at the American Academy of Family Physicians National Conference of Family Medicine Residents and Medical Students - Boy, is that a long name! This meeting definitely has a special place in my heart. I've been coming to this meeting off and on for the past 15 years or so - ever since I was a 2nd year medical student.

I know that I have mentioned this on the blog before, but every time I attend a meeting like this - I get re-energized. And, it re-emphasizes to me about the specialty choice that I made. I love explaining what I do to medical students and I love sharing what I do in my day-to-day job with family medicine residents.

I guess that's why I was tapped to be on the panel this morning. There were three others on this panel as well. And, let me tell you, I definitely felt outclassed by these people. These people all has international experience practicing family medicine all across the world. It was fascinating hearing these docs share their stories.

When I first walked into the room, I saw spotlights and I saw a camera in the back of the room. Apparently, they were going to record this session for posterity and probably place it on the Academy website. Right away, my anxiety level went up a little bit. After the panel introduced themselves is where the real fun began.

There were a great variety of questions for the panel which included the following: What do you think of the hospitalist movement that is occurring now, What medical references do you use when taking care of patients, How can students/residents become more involved in health policy development, What would do you differently in your training (if anything), What leadership roles are you involved with?

Then, this question, "What rewarding activities do you find yourself involved in that you hadn't planned?" And, of course, I think that I was selected first to answer. I mentioned on the show this week that I might have an inkling to "come out" as it were and reveal my name. So, to start my answer, I talked in generalities about social networking and medicine new media.

The moment was then upon me. Do I say it, or don't I say it? Even up to the last second, I was going back and forth and analyzing all of the pros and cons of the situation. I asked myself of the the potential ramifications if I went public. And, the possibility of having to stop the blog depending on what happens. What happened? Well, check out the video post below to find out. (I'm bad, aren't I?) I'd appreciate your thoughts and comments below after you watch it.