2026 Annual Spring Conference President’s Address

Conference on Practice & Quality Improvement Closing Session - Wednesday, September 2, 2026This presentation reflects on the evolving purpose, responsibility, and resilience of family physicians in a rapidly changing health care environment. Drawing from three decades of leadership, teaching, and historical keynote addresses, the speaker invites attendees to reconsider how physicians grow professionally while remaining grounded in the relational and moral foundations of medicine. By contrasting the non-binary curiosity and joy of childhood development with the rigid, outcome-driven mindset common in adult professional life, the presentation reframes burnout as a loss of meaning rather than a lack of effort or reward.Through storytelling, reflection, and selected excerpts from past speeches, learners are encouraged to rediscover “unnoticed wisdom,” celebrate the concept of “enough,” and intentionally remove fear, frustration, anger, threat, and terror from their lives. The presentation affirms family medicine as a countercultural force—one grounded in presence, advocacy, ethical leadership, and service that cannot be replaced by technology or commoditized models of care. Ultimately, this talk serves as a call to action for physicians to remember why they entered medicine, honor the privilege of board certification, and press the call button when society asks for a doctor—leading with courage, humility, and compassion. Learning Objectives:Upon completion of this session, participants should be able to:Compare and contrast the differences between non-binary childhood developmental milestones and binary adult life hurdles.Better understand how not to fall out of love with the art and the science of medicine.Learn how to recognize and celebrate “enough.”Copyright © Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, 2026Speaker Bio - Gary L. LeRoy (Lah-Roy), MD, is the senior vice president for diplomate experience at the American Board of Family Medicine—located in Lexington, KY.Dr LeRoy is a native of Dayton, OH, and graduated from Wright State University. He completed family medicine residency training in Dayton and a family medicine teaching fellowship at Michigan State University.Over the past 3 decades, Dr LeRoy has continued serving the citizens of Dayton in his urban clinical practice, while serving as associate dean of student affairs and admissions at the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine for 14 years, president of the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians (2005–06), and president of the American Academy of Family Physicians (2020–21). Website - https://stfm.org/stfmpodcastCPQI26closing 

Conference on Practice & Quality Improvement Second Plenary Session - Tuesday, September 1, 2026Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming clinical care, medical education, and research. While AI has significant potential, meaningful integration remains challenging. When AI-powered tools are developed in technology silos without close collaboration with key stakeholders, real-world impact is limited. Even the most powerful AI tools lack practical value if they aren’t conceptualized, designed and integrated to address clearly defined and meaningful problems. These challenges highlight the need for a problem-driven approach to AI development and adoption.This session presents a practical framework for advancing AI initiatives grounded in quality improvement (QI) principles. Drawing on Dr. Sattler’s experience as a clinician and improvement-focused innovator, the session uses examples across clinical care, education and research to illustrate how AI can be applied to address real-world challenges. Emphasis is placed on identifying meaningful problems as the necessary starting point for exploring AI-enabled solutions and using iterative, small-scale testing to evaluate their impact.This session also highlights the importance of collaboration among key stakeholders and technology developers to ensure that AI tools are responsive to real-world needs. Participants are encouraged to view themselves not as passive users of AI, but as active contributors to its thoughtful development and implementation. The session also addresses potential benefits, limitations, and risks of AI use. Learning Objectives:Upon completion of this session, participants should be able to:Describe practical examples for meaningfully integrating AI into clinical practice, education and research.Apply a quality improvement-informed, problem-driven approach to advance a personal AI goal.Evaluate potential benefits, limitations and risks of AI use.Copyright © Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, 2026Speaker Bio - Amelia Sattler, MD, is a family physician and problem-solver. Her medical training began while seated around the dinner table in rural northern California where, as a child, she was inspired by the joy that her parents experienced working as family practitioners. She ventured to Mayo Medical School in Rochester, MN, where she was “raised” in a culture of medicine that prioritizes the needs of patients. She returned to California to train at Stanford's O'Connor Family Medicine Residency Program. After residency she joined Stanford Family Medicine, where she continues to see patients.Dr Sattler holds three leadership roles. She is an associate program director of the Stanford Healthcare AI Applied Research Team ("HEART") and works with teams to study and implement AI technologies to solve specific, practical problems in healthcare. She is the primary care program director of integrated behavioral health and is partnering with psychiatry, social work and primary care teams to build a collaborative care model at Stanford Primary Care. She is also the associate section chief for program innovation in the Division of Primary Care and Population Health where she collaborates with providers and operational leadership to amplify the impact of their 30+ innovative primary care programs. Website - https://stfm.org/stfmpodcastCPQI26second 

Conference on Practice & Quality Improvement Opening Session - Monday, August 31, 2026In this fireside chat with Dr Sachin Jain, he explores the intersection of leadership, equity, and innovation in health care delivery. This session examines how health care organizations can address disparities in access, quality, and outcomes while advancing patient-centered, community-responsive care.Learning Objectives:Upon completion of this session, participants should be able to:Describe key factors that contribute to inequities to health care access, quality and outcomes across diverse patient populations.Analyze how health care systems organizational culture and policy decisions influence disparities in care delivery and patient experience.Identify strategies that clinicians, educators and health care organizations can use to promote equitable patient centered and community responsive care.Copyright © Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, 2026Speaker Bio - Sachin (pronounced SUCH-in) H. Jain, MD, MBA is CEO of SCAN Group and SCAN Health Plan. SCAN is a nonprofit organization with annual revenues of $8B that serves nearly 500,000 people across Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Washington.Previously, Dr Jain was president and CEO of CareMore and Aspire Health. He also served as chief medical information & innovation officer at Merck & Co., was senior advisor to the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and was the first deputy director for policy and programs at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. He was also special assistant to the national coordinator for Health Information Technology.Dr Jain graduated from Harvard where he earned his AB, MD, and MBA degrees. He is adjunct professor at the Stanford University and a member of the boards of Omada Health, Advantage Healthcare Services, The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans, and the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. He is an advisor to LRV Ventures, Obvious Ventures, and Team8. He also serves on the editorial board of Health Affairs and the American Journal of Managed Care. He is a member of the Aspen Health Strategy Group (AHSG), an initiative of the Health, Medicine & Society Program of the Aspen Institute and elected member of the National Academy of Social Insurance. Dr Jain is also the author of the forthcoming book, The Moral Alibi: How Healthcare Learned to Look Away—and How We See Again (themoralalibi.com). Website - https://stfm.org/stfmpodcastCPQI26opening 

Primary care physicians play an essential role in screening for and identifying cognitive health changes in patients. Thomas W. Bishop, PsyD, shares the importance of training residents to practice with cognitive health in mind. He shares his go-to screening tools and highlights how lifestyle factors such as physical activity and social connection are key to brain health. Dr Bishop also makes the case for an integrated team approach to navigating the complex diagnostic differences between dementia, delirium, and depression. This episode is brought to you in partnership with Eli Lilly and Company, and has been produced independently of STFM partners. Hosted by Omari A. Hodge, MD, and Jay-Sheree Allen Akambase, MDCopyright © Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, 2026Resources:A Large Health System Quality Improvement Intervention Providing Training and Tools to Improve Detection of Cognitive Impairment in Primary Care - J Am Geriatr SocKAER Framework - Gerontological Society of America (GSA)Mini-Cog - Quick Screening for Early Dementia Detection MoCA CognitionOutliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm GladwellLifeStyle Medicine and Nutritional Healing with Joseph E. Scherger, MD, MPH - STFM PodcastGuest Bio:Dr Thomas W. Bishop is a clinical psychologist and Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine, Chattanooga, where he serves as an Associate Program Director and Director of Behavioral Medicine. He is also Adjunct Associate Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Michigan. Across his career, Dr Bishop has focused on preparing family medicine learners and care teams to deliver integrated, whole-person care within primary care settings.His background includes longstanding work in behavioral medicine, psychology training within medical education, and scholarship related to cognition, learning, memory, and neurobehavioral functioning. His early academic work and professional interests included neuropsychology, and his career has continued to center on helping frontline clinicians recognize how cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and medical factors intersect in everyday patient care. Through years of practice in integrated primary care, he has helped train residents to identify concerns that may signal brain health problems, use practical screening approaches, promote prevention, engage patients and families, and connect patients with appropriate specialty evaluation and treatment when needed.Dr Bishop has taught and presented nationally on behavioral health in family medicine, communication skills, interprofessional education, physician development, and innovative approaches to residency training. In this conversation, he brings that experience to the important topic of equipping family medicine residents to address brain health through prevention, screening, and referral for appropriate specialty care.Link:https://www.stfm.org/stfmpodcast092026

Can artificial intelligence restore humanity to my patient interactions? In this episode, Dr May Lin and Dr Brent Sugimoto explore how ambient scribing and smarter administrative tools free physicians to be truly present with their patients, allowing technology to become a bridge in patient care rather than a barrier. Our guests also tackle the ethical and policy dimensions of how AI affects family medicine in both the exam room and the classroom. They identify the current moment as an opportunity for residency programs to shape how AI is used in family medicine, emphasizing that if today’s residents are not trained to use AI tools ethically and wisely, their future patients may miss out on the benefits of technology-assisted care.Hosted by Omari A. Hodge, MD, FAAFP and Jay-Sheree Allen Akambase, MDCopyright © Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, 2026Resources:Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech by Brian MerchantArtificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Primary Care Curriculum (AiMPC) CourseEthical Use of AI in the Family Medicine Clinic - STFM WebinarAn Opportunity to Thrive - AI in Family Medicine - STFM PodcastAI Deep Dive Summer Series Episode 1: Integrating AI into Family Medicine Curriculum Design - STFM PodcastAI Deep Dive Summer Series Episode 2: The Promises and Pitfalls of AI in Residency Assessment - STFM PodcastGuest Bio:May Lin, DODr Lin is board certified in Family Medicine and Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM). She practices at Amazon/One Medical where she also serves as the Director of Academic Development. A graduate of Harvard Medical School's Executive Education Course on AI in Healthcare, Dr. Lin serves on the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine’s (AACOM) Technology Task Force, Touro University's AI Task Force, and the American Osteopathic Information Association’s (AOiA) national steering committee. As an Osteopathic Health Policy Fellow, Dr. Lin blends policy interest with leadership experience in healthcare technology and medical education. Dr. Lin is passionate about advancing medical innovation giving patients increased access, decrease cost and improved quality in high touch, technology forward medical care. Integrating primary care, medical innovation, healthcare technology, and healthcare policy are key attributes to supporting primary care and elevating our next generation for sustainable primary care practice and delivery.Brent Sugimoto, MD, MPHDr Sugumoto is program director of the LifeLong Medical Care Family Medicine Residency Program and a Family Physician who specializes in HIV medicine. He currently serves as co-chair of the AAFP/Rock Health “Advancing AI and Digital Health for Primary Care Initiative.” Brent ventured into artificial intelligence after the birth of his first child—when parenthood made him rethink the boundaries of his professional and personal lives—and co-founded a startup called Decoded Health, which leveraged technology from DARPA to build tools to make primary care sustainable. Since then, Brent has worked to increase family medicine’s engagement in AI/ML as a potentially transformative and disruptive technology through physician education and policy work within the specialty. Brent is excited to be a member of this task force, as he believes health technology literacy will be a critical competency for future family physicians. He uses ambient scribing with moderate success in his own practice.Link:https://www.stfm.org/stfmpodcast082026 

How is artificial intelligence reshaping the way we train and assess the next generation of family physicians? In this episode, Dr John Hayes and Dr Karim Hanna explore the promises and pitfalls of AI in residency assessment, from automating milestone tracking and grading robust essay exams to getting started with your first automated workflow. They also discuss how when AI takes on more of the data analysis and synthesis tasks, faculty will need to increase their coaching skills. On the other side, our guests offer an honest look at the risks of over-reliance on technology, cautioning educators to guard against "un-skilling" learners who may already lean too heavily on AI for clinical reasoning. Learn how to incorporate AI as a powerful supplemental tool while preserving the human connection that lies at the heart of family medicine. Hosted by Omari A. Hodge, MD, FAAFP and Jay-Sheree Allen Akambase, MDCopyright © Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, 2026Resources:Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Primary Care Curriculum (AiMPC) CourseEthical Use of AI in the Family Medicine Clinic - STFM WebinarAn Opportunity to Thrive - AI in Family Medicine - STFM PodcastAI Deep Dive Summer Series Episode 1: Integrating AI into Family Medicine Curriculum Design - STFM PodcastLearning after Training: The Master Adaptive Learner - STFM PodcastSTFM Competency-based Medical Education ToolkitSTFM Collaborative List - Artificial Intelligence in Medical Education CollaborativeJohn Hayes DOPrior to his current roles, Dr Hayes served as a Family Medicine Clerkship Director, where he led a major curriculum modernization effort that enhanced the clerkship experience for medical students. Dr Hayes is now pioneering the integration of Artificial Intelligence in medical assessments, specifically in Objective Structured Clinical Exams (OSCEs). Additionally, he is developing a summative clinical reasoning examination designed to move away from traditional multiple-choice testing and into essay prompts with AI assisted grading. He is also exploring the use of ambient AI to enhance residency education and improve communication skills for both residents and faculty, aiming to foster a collaborative learning environment. He definitely used AI to help generate this blurb.Karim Hanna, MDDr Karim Hanna is an Associate Professor at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine and the founding Program Director for the USF TGH Family Medicine Residency. His work integrates primary care education and AI advancements. Dr Hanna's interests in health tech spurred his writing of a blog - MedEd+AI - with a focus on AI's role in medical education and clinical implications. His scholarly work includes research on LLMs for clinical applications and improving education through AI.

Learning the “basics” of AI begins with understanding how AI can help lighten the load family medicine educators carry every day in the clinic and classroom. In the first episode of our AI Deep Dive Summer Series, Drs Linda Chang and Rika Bajra discuss how AI has already affected medical education, from curriculum design and competency-based education to formative assessment and personalized learning. They show how AI literacy allows educators to reclaim time to focus on the human-centered aspects of patient care and medical education. And if you feel like it’s too late to start learning about AI, they offer practical tips for both using and teaching AI in medical education. Hosted by Omari A. Hodge, MD, FAAFP and Jay-Sheree Allen Akambase, MDCopyright © Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, 2026Resources:Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Primary Care Curriculum (AiMPC) CourseEthical Use of AI in the Family Medicine Clinic - STFM WebinarAn Opportunity to Thrive - AI in Family Medicine - STFM PodcastEstablishing a National Framework for Family Medicine AI Centers of Excellence - Fam Med.Linda Chang, PharmD, MPHDr Chang is an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) College of Medicine Rockford, with a background as a board-certified clinical pharmacist, a degree in Public Health, and ongoing studies toward a Master’s in Health Professions Education. She spent 17 years as faculty in the Family Medicine Residency Program and currently serves as the Pharmacology Theme Director at the College of Medicine, where she teaches evidence-based medicine and public health. Her work reflects an interdisciplinary approach to medical education that integrates clinical practice, public health, and emerging technologies. As co-director of the AI in Medicine theme at UIC, Dr Chang has co-led the development and implementation of a longitudinal, integrated AI in Medicine curriculum, a fourth-year elective course, and an AI in Medicine scholarly concentration program.  Rika Bajra, MDDr Bajra is an Assistant Clinical Professor in Primary Care and Population Health at Stanford School of Medicine, where she practices as a family physician and teaches medical students as the Associate Director of the Clerkship in Family and Community Medicine. In her roles as Telehealth Co-Director and Telemedicine Education Curriculum Lead, she is focused on integrating technology tools into clinical practices and medical education through a primary care lens. She has previously developed telemedicine curricula with the STFM Telemedicine Task Force and received an Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) grant to create a longitudinal telemedicine curriculum. Currently, Dr Bajra is exploring the integration of artificial intelligence into the Family Medicine curriculum and its application in reducing faculty burden in Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) assessments. In her personal life, she lives with her husband and three boys and enjoys hiking and traveling.Link: https://www.stfm.org/stfmpodcast062026 

As a special episode of the STFM Podcast, listen to an audio recording of the presidential address session of the 2026 STFM Annual Spring Conference: “STFM President’s Address–Timing, Relationships and Opportunity: The Journey to Family Medicine” by Molly Clark, PhD.Molly Clark, PhD delivers her STFM President’s Address, “Timing, Relationships and Opportunity: The Journey to Family Medicine” from STFM’s Annual Spring Conference.Copyright © Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, 2026Speaker BiosMolly Clark, PhDMolly Clark is currently a tenured Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC). She received her doctoral training in Counseling Psychology at the University of Southern Mississippi, completed her residency at the University of Missouri-Columbia, and fellowship in Health Psychology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. She also holds an appointment in the Department of Human Behavior and Psychiatry at the UMMC.Dr Clark was sworn in as STFM President during the 2026 STFM Annual Spring Conference in New Orleans, LA. She has previously served on STFM’s Board of Directors as member-at-large and on the Behavioralist and Family Educator Fellowship Steering Committee.

As a special episode of the STFM Podcast, listen to an audio recording of the opening general session of the 2026 STFM Annual Spring Conference: "The Primacy of Primary Care—How Rural Can Lead the Way" by Kevin Bennett, PhD. Dr Bennett will discuss how rural healthcare, and primary care in particular, has evolved over the years, and how rural communities have adapted in response. Innovative delivery models, workforce, and other solutions will be discussed, particularly in the context of the current policy environment. Opportunities for rural primary care to pave the way for new models of care will be discussed as a springboard for future work. Learning ObjectivesUpon completion of this session, participants should be able to:·       Describe the current landscape of innovative rural models of care delivery.Understand the impact of federal and state policies on rural care.·       Understand the impact of federal and state policies on rural care.·       Describe how rural primary care can revitalize health care delivery.Copyright © Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, 2026Speaker BiosKevin Bennett, PhD Dr Bennett is a professor of Family & Preventive Medicine at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC. He serves as the director of the South Carolina Center for Rural and Primary Healthcare. He also serves as the immediate past president of the National Rural Health Association.Dr Bennett's work focuses on improving health care delivery for marginalized and underserved communities, particularly in rural areas, while examining the influence of national, state, or local policies and legislation on these populations. He has worked extensively with community groups, rural health networks, health care systems, and state agencies to pioneer and assess innovative care delivery programs. He also has an extensive publication history examining the disparities in health care access, quality, and outcomes experienced by rural populations.

International Medical Graduates (IMGs) make up a significant portion of the U.S. healthcare workforce. Recent federal visa policy changes have introduced new challenges to their entry into residency programs. Immigration attorney Denise Gavica Perez and STFM's Director of Government Relations Nina DeJonghe, MPP, discuss the personal, financial, and logistical implications of these changes, with a focus on differences between J-1 and H-1B visas. They examine the importance of current visa status for medical students and consider how these policies may influence the Match. They also review current advocacy efforts within an evolving federal policy environment. This episode is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult a qualified attorney for specific guidance for your situation.The episode was recorded on March 26, 2026.Hosted by Omari A. Hodge, MD, FAAFP and Jay-Sheree Allen Akambase, MDCopyright © Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, 2026Resources:Education commission for Foreign Medical Graduates International Medical Graduates (IMG) Toolkit - AMA Guest Bio:Denise Gavica PerezDenise Gavica Perez provides cutting-edge and creative legal counsel to companies and institutions throughout the U.S. She has extensive experience managing employment-based immigration cases for non immigrant and immigrant visas, and immigration planning and compliance programs for entities engaged in a wide range of industries, including: hospitals and healthcare institutions, construction, engineering, architecture, technology, entertainment, food service, hospitality, publishing, retail, education, financial services and banking, export and import, and other sectors. She also advises entrepreneurs and high net-worth individuals regarding investment-based U.S. immigration, including the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. Denise handles a wide range of nonimmigrant visas and petitions, and also provides advanced and strategic advice to clients on a variety of immigrant visas and labor certifications (PERM) for numerous occupations. She also handles family-based cases and U.S. citizenship matters, and regularly represents companies in connection with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), U.S. Department of State (DOS), and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Form 1-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification) audits. In addition, Denise has successfully processed many J-1 waivers, including those issued under the Conrad 30 program, and has assisted several employees worldwide in qualifying for national interest exceptions (NIE) and other exceptions at U.S. consulates and embassies abroad to travel to the U.S. In representing several large entities nationwide, Denise always partners with and assists her clients to ensure they remain compliant with government regulations. She routinely counsels hospitals and healthcare institutions seeking to obtain non immigrant and immigrant visas for employees worldwide, including: physicians, residents, fellows, nurses, pharmacists, medical technologists, and other healthcare experts and professionals in all medical practices. She also represents recruitment and staffing agencies tasked with recruiting healthcare professionals. For several years, she served as an Adjunct Professor for the paralegal program at Florida International University, and has lectured at local seminars on immigration topics. Nina DeJonghe, MPPNina DeJonghe, MPP, is a seasoned public policy professional with several years of leadership, legislative, and non-profit experience. As the Director of