2009
April - UMKC Community and Family Medicine department hosted an RPS pre-conference for a National ALSO Instructor course. We had a full course of 24 participants from all over the country to be able to provide the opportunity to earn the instructor status.

Two of our faculty presented at the AAFP's Residency Program Solutions Conference.

Dr. Todd Shaffer and OB fellow, Dr. Gretchen Dickson presented two topics: Identifying Your Leadership Style and Applying It (2 hours) and Templated Based EHR Documentation.

March - Welcome to the new Class of 2012:
February - Newly elected Chief Residents for 2009-10:

Jennifer Daily, MD	Molly Harp, DO

Dr. James Lawrenzi was recently awarded the Missouri Academy of Osteopathic Family Physicians award for 2009.

Kimberly Sixkiller, Assistant to the Program Director, has received the nomination to the Association of Family Medicine Administration Board of Directors.
It is a 4-year term that begins at Residency Program Solutions in March.
She looks forward to co-chairing the Information Exchange and Media committees for the next two years and contributing to the AFMA Board to increase Family Medicine interests.

January - Dr. Bruce Bagley, Medical Director Quality Improvement, American Academy of Family Physicians presented to a roomful at our Noon Conference in the Education Center on The Patient Centered Medical Home. A great presentation was given on patient centered ideas and a team approach with a goal to improving patient care.

Drs. Matt John and Emily Lott, Family Medicine Chief Residents and 2009 Graduates, matched into our Sports Medicine fellowship for 2009-10. We look forward to them being around for another year.

2008
December - Community and Family Medicine Holiday Party was a successful event.

We also welcomed this month Dr. Wael Mourad to our family. He comes to us after completing a Maternal and Child Health fellowship in high risk/surgical OB at West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park IL.

November - UMKC Family Medicine Residency has received full AOA accreditation for the entire three year program. We are always progressing to provide the best training program options for our residents. We have had an AOA internship for the past two years, and have worked over the past six years to make this a reality for our approval as a full dually accredited allopathic/osteopathic residency program.

We are now able to offer a comprehensive osteopathic and allopathic training program to our residents, and we look forward to working with them in the years to come to assist them in achieving their professional and career goals.

September - Dr. Stephen Griffith has been named Top Doctor Class of 2008 by
Ingram's Magazine. The doctors selected come highly recommended by former Top Doctors, hospital administrators and other healthcare professionals. Dr. Griffith has shown a lifelong commitment to family medicine and medical education. From 1989-1999, he served as the Residency Program Director. The Family Medicine Residency program at TMC Lakewood is considered to be one of the premiere programs in the country for family medicine education. Since 2001, Dr. Griffith has served as Chairman of the Family Medicine Department.

August - Drs. Gretchen Dickson, George Harris, Todd Shaffer, and Russell White presented lectures at the National NCFMR event held in Kansas City. Drs. James Lawrenzi, Emily Lott and Melinda Olomiye spent time with potential future residents.

Lauren Sachs, DO, MBA was named Alternate Resident Director to the Missouri Board Academcy of Family Physicians.

July - New Resident Orientation at Truman Medical Center Lakewood, promises to be a great class.


June - Graduation Dinner was held at Arrowhead Club this year, and the food was even better this year!

Hail & Farewell was at Truman Lakewood and was a memorable occasion. We welcomed our new residents by giving them their doctor's coats. We recognized 2008 graduates and their accomplishments. The class of 2008 finished with a slideshow including advice to new residents.

Back row L-R: Drs. Michael Richardson, Jon Cho, Sam Lee, Jason Meleth, Ethan Richards
Front row L-R: Drs. Heather Hargraves, Gretchen Dickson, Crystal Jones, Annelle Johnson,
Malathi Tadakamalla, Erwin Loquias

March - We are very excited to welcome new UMKC Family Medicine residents for 2008-09! January - Our very successful interview season ended this month. We have had a record number of interviews through January 25th.

2007
December - Record numbers of families attended our Community and Family Medicine Holiday Party. Fantastic food, fun, mingling and great memories were made by all.

November - In-Training Exams were held at the UMKC Main Campus. Resident Retreat was at the Hilton KCI. Dr. Mark Byler, faculty and UMKC Family Medicine alumni, spoke on travel and missionary medicine.

October - Third Year Residents went to a Tucker Leadership Lab at William Jewell College for team building exercises.

Patient-Centered Interviewing. George Harris, MD, MS, FAAFP, Professor. How to develop an effective, time-efficient interview with each patient. Strengthen your communication and relationship-building skills as well as increase your confidence level with patients. (NCFMR)

How Quality of Care Impacts You and Your Future Practice. Gretchen Dickson, MD and Michael Richardson, MD, Residents. Todd Shaffer, MD, MBA, FAAFP, Program Director. Learn about the quality of care movement and why it is important. Find out how to interpret quality data and formulate possible interventions to improve care. Explore the role of a physician on a quality assessment team. Use of information technology resources to support quality efforts. Examine the relationship between pay-for-performance and published quality of care initiatives and standards. (NCFMR)

September - Senator Clarie McCaskill came to UMKC School of Medicine to warn about drug companies influencing doctors. The presentation also included a talk by physician R. Stephen Griffith, the chairman of the medical school's department of community and family medicine. In an interview, Dr. Griffith said that drug companies like to target medical residents, who receive specialized training after graduating from medical school. "The idea is, if you can get them in the habit of writing prescriptions for your drugs when they're in residency, they'll continue to do that when they're in private practice," Griffith said. The pharmaceutical industry denies any wrongdoing. Griffith's department, which is based at Truman Medical Center Lakewood, last year banned drug company representatives from contacting its budding physicians. "They don't bring lunches, they don't leave pens," Griffith said of the representatives. "We didn't say the pharmaceutical representatives couldn't come to our hospital. We just don't let them have any interaction with our students and residents."