UCLA Health Sciences  |  Research & Education  |  Patient Care

• Elective Courses in Family Medicine
• Third Year Required Clerkship
• Fourth Year Primary Care College
• Doctoring 1 Preceptorship
  • Preceptors
  • Students
• Family Medicine Interest Group
  • Infrastructure
  • Leadership
  • Student Involvement and Retention
  • Family Medicine Advocacy
  • Community Outreach
  • Calendar of Events
• Summer Opportunities in Family Medicine
• UCLA Student Run Homeless Clinics
• Union Rescue Mission Clinic

Family Medicine Interest Group (FMIG)

Leadership Positions

Senior Advisor(s)

The Senior Advisor will serve as the liaison between the Family Medicine Faculty, Primary Care College, and Family Medicine Interest Group. He/she will assist the Faculty Advisor with the pre-match dinner and coordinate the “Residency/ERAS Overview” at the end of the year. He/she will also assist with FMIG elections for incoming officers.

President(s):

The President(s) will oversee and help coordinate all FMIG activities and officer meetings. He/she will serve as the UCLA FMIG Representative for the California Academy of Family Physicians (CAFP) and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) by keeping officers updated on all upcoming events, both regionally and nationally. He/she will work to maintain a functioning, cohesive group of officers.

Treasurer:

The Treasurer will maintain a running balance of the available FMIG funds and report an updated balance at each officer meeting. He/she will contact the FMIG support staff to obtain and submit reimbursements for lunches and other FMIG-associated costs. He/she will coordinate fundraising activities to subsidize AAFP student memberships, ie) T-shirt sales, bake sales, etc. He/she will also coordinate our FMIG’s involvement in the annual AAFP National Conference in Kansas City, MO, by assisting the support staff with arranging hotel and air accommodations and informing students of available AAFP scholarships for the conference.

Membership/Administrative Coordinator:

The Membership and Administrative Coordinator with serve as the AAFP Liaison and work to increase FMIG’s membership by creating incentives for FMIG members to become chapter and national members. He/she will track participation of all FMIG members, as well as collect and store all attendee lists from each FMIG event. He/she will also be responsible for taking and disseminating minutes from the officer meetings.

1st Year Representative(s):

The 1st Year Representative will serve as the liaison between the 1st year students and the FMIG organization. He/she will publicize and track attendance at all FMIG events.

** In addition to the above duties, all FMIG officers are responsible for attending all monthly officer meetings and scheduled FMIG events. They will be responsible for planning one general event, which entails formulating a topic, contacting the appropriate speaker(s) and faculty, arranging lunch, and publicizing the event via email, posters, word of mouth, etc. We take pride in realizing the importance of teamwork, actively and cooperatively supporting each other with all FMIG activities.

Description of the Election Process

Election Procedures:

1. Students may only self-nominate for one of the officer positions during the nomination period or at the election itself.
2. Nominations submitted within the nomination period must be accompanied by a one paragraph statement-of-intent not to exceed 300 words.
3. On the day of elections, each candidate will be expected to address the FMIG membership by providing a 2-minute speech addressing how they will benefit FMIG through their leadership position.
4. Any student may run for: Co-President, Vice-President, Membership/Administrative Coordinator, Treasurer, and Historian/Webmaster.
5. Only current 3rd year students may run for the position of Senior Advisor.
6. Candidates not elected for their intended position may run for only one other available FMIG position on election day.
7. All FMIG members may vote for incoming FMIG officers.

Representation of Each Class

Although our FMIG has been traditionally led by 2nd year students, we do not have any structured rules prohibiting any year student from any officer position except for the Senior Advisor position. The group strives to attain leadership representation from every class because it allows us to better accommodate our programming to each class’s needs and interests. This year we were able to get officers from all four classes, allowing us to best tune our scheduling to the rhythm of the students we were targeting. This has allowed us to consistently enjoy the highest attendance rates out of any student interest group on the UCLA medical campus.

Leadership Development

The key to sustained success is adequate future leadership development. This year, the board members elected three1st year representatives from the first year medical class. The positions were advertised at the first FMIG meeting and interested students submitted a statement of interest to the leadership board shortly after. The board appointed the three most qualified members. Selection was based mostly on demonstrated interest in primary care and potential contribution to the group. These positions are officer positions and carry the same weight of responsibility as any other position on the board. They are not training positions. The main goal of these positions is to serve as liaisons to the needs and interests of the 1st year class while at the same time developing leadership skills and institutional memory for future FMIG leadership.

Communication

Communication with medical students and Family Medicine physicians and staff has served as a vital component to UCLA FMIG’s success. Our student group has utilized numerous resources as a means of communication and outreach, including direct e-mails to hundreds of medical students via e-mail listserves, flyers posted prior to every FMIG meeting, electronic posting of the FMIG calendar of events onto the Student Affairs Office’s Official Calendar of Events, and informal group discussions during FMIG student group meetings. Dr. Susan Stangl has also been an important resource for communication with Family Medicine physicians at UCLA and surrounding UCLA-affiliated hospitals. She has recruited outstanding physicians and mentors that students have been able to network extensively with at FMIG events. In addition, FMIG participates at the annual Interest Group Fair at the beginning of each year by having officers set up a table to distribute FMIG flyers and pamphlets and to provide personal information to interested medical students. Examples of some of our flyers can be found at the end of this application.

Fundraising

Our FMIG is generously funded by the California Academy of Family Physicians (CAFP) and the UCLA Department of Family Medicine. Additionally, to further increase our funding, as well as to raise the scope and appeal of our events, our leadership took an active role in soliciting and seeking financial support from various organizations. This year, generous contributions totaling over $8000 were made by the UCLA School of Medicine’s Department of Family Medicine, the Dean’s Office, UCLA Medical Student Council, American Academy of Family Physicians, California Academy of Family Physicians, and Los Angeles County Chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians. In addition, five students received AAFP or CAFP scholarships to attend the AAFP National Conference in Kansas City, MO. We are extremely grateful and appreciative of the wide support we received throughout the year.

Best Practices

Our FMIG officers generated the following list of best practices with the intention of keeping the knowledge gained from our experiences this year for longevity. It is our board’s fervent wish that those who come after us do not have to “re-invent the wheel.”

• Always have food!
• Subsidized memberships for AAFP
• Timing of Events:
  • Holding meetings during the lunch hour to accommodate 1st and 2nd year students while holding some at dinner time to accommodate 3rd and 4th year schedules
  • Schedule programs around class exams to maximize attendance
• Valuing member choice – programming excellent guest speakers and topics based on members’ interest
• Communication is Key: introductory e-mails and flyers, followed up by reminder e-mails, etc.
• Invite great guest speakers who can relate with students, discuss pertinent healthcare topics and who share valued personal experiences
• Student Mentorship: Having a panel of 2nd year students share experiences with 1st year students, i.e.) summer opportunities, Family Medicine clerkship, preceptorship, etc. Students will continue to come if they feel they directly benefit from participation in the group
• This year, the Co-presidents created a “protocol” sheet that outlined the necessary tasks involved in creating, organizing and executing programs. This served as a guide to ensure that programs ran smoothly and successfully.