Welcome to the Forum!

**THIS CONFERENCE IS VIRTUAL**

Relationships, Continuity, and Meaningful Practice: A 2020 Vision for Primary Care

November 4 – 7, 2020

The 2020 SARS-2 coronavirus pandemic hit family medicine like a meteor.  It has impacted not only how we meet for conferences, but also how we see our patients, teach our learners, and live our lives.  We are sad that we will not meet in-person at a time when those in-person connections would help us cope with these stressful times.  The planning committee and the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin were determined to provide a valuable conference that was accessible to you even in light of travel restrictions and limited continuing education funds.  Awareness that we all are experiencing some degree of virtual meeting fatigue has impacted the planning of this conference.  We have attempted to balance your need for continuing education and support with sensitivity to the difficulties of engaging with a virtual format. 

Highlights:

Zoom-Fatigue_Busting-Sessions: We have broken up long days with special podcast presentations.  Participants are encouraged to “step away from the computer,” and join us with your phone while taking a walk, doing yoga, or relaxing on your porch.  These have been approved for continuing education credit.  Topics include:

• Reflections on Scholarship in Times of Crisis - Sandra Burge, PhD and Julie Rickert, PsyD
• “And Still I Rise”: Reflections on being a behaviorist in an upended world - Kathryn Fraser, PhD and Terri Wall, PhD
• Rediscovering our Past…Casting a Vision for our Future. - Thomas Bishop, PsyD and Julie Rickert, PsyD

Gathering In:  We hope that you will join as at the opening of the conference on Wednesday, November 4th at 11:15 Central Time.  We will orient you to how to navigate the virtual conference and The STFM Family and Behavioral Health Collaborative Co-chairs have planned a fun and energetic activity to bring us together even as we are apart.

Engaging Plenaries: Our plenaries are reflections on our times.  The opening plenary is a return of the Forum at the Forum.  TED talk-like presentations explore different perspectives on Catastrophic Change in patient care, education, relationship, and planning for the future.  Our Keynote plenary addresses the dehumanizing scourge of endemic racism that impacts our country.  Our closing plenary focuses on our internal narrative and wellbeing when faced with overwhelming events. 

• Catastrophic Change: 2020 Vision through the Covid Lens

Dominique Fons, MD, Kwanza Devlin, MD, Molly Clark, PhD, Julie Rickert, PsyD

• Racism and Persistent Disparities: Difficult Conversations on the Road to Equity

Kathryn Fraser, PhD, Kristen Hood Watson, MD, Jeff Ring, PhD

• Novice Fish Keeping: Life Lessons That Help Us Navigate Uncertain Times

Jennifer Ayres, PhD

Educational Sessions:  Our colleagues have put together nearly sixty educational sessions for you.  These range from ethics sessions to meet your licensing requirements, clinical practice updates, round table discussions, posters, research sessions, workshops and lecture discussions.  Please check out the abstracts to learn more!   

Continuing Education:  Please see the accreditation tab.  We have approval for physicians, psychologists and allied health professionals.  We have submitted applications to the National Association of Social Workers and the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.  We will update that accreditation as soon as we are authorized to do so.      

 In Case of Zoom technical difficulties:  If Zoom should have any difficulties during the live conference, please contact us first, then go to our Facebook page.  We will have prerecorded content ready for streaming if we have any zoom difficulties.  In this way, we will ensure that we meet your continuing education needs.   

See you at the Forum!