Updates from UAFP

March 23, 2020

Dear UAFP Members,

As the chapter staff of the Utah Academy of Family Physicians, we are honored to work for the most incredible group of frontline physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

We always knew that family physicians had one of the most difficult and most important jobs (and not just in the field of healthcare), but this pandemic has made that fact abundantly clear. 

Your patients are scared, your family and friends are scared, your entire community is scared and thoroughly disrupted – and through it all, you go to work, day after day, keeping a strong and calm face for the sake of your patients and your colleagues. Saying “thank you,” does not seem like enough, but we immensely grateful for all of you right now. 

Just a few notes about our activities in the coming months as a chapter:

Annual Member Meeting: 

  • We are postponing our Annual Member Meeting and Dinner originally scheduled for Friday, May 15th.
  • Our board will still meet remotely in April to discuss the best way to disseminate a chapter update to our members including a legislative, activity, and budget update.
  • We still plan to host a dinner for our members, and will reschedule once it is advisable to do so. 

Student & Resident Poster Session: 

  • We are postponing our Student & Resident Poster Session originally scheduled for Friday, May 15th.
  • We hope to reschedule this event in the future for those resident and students whose abstracts were selected. 

Utah Family Physician Night with the Salt Lake Bees: 

  • At this time, we are scheduled to host this event on Saturday, July 18th. It goes without saying that this date and event is subject to change and we will keep you posted in the coming months. 

What will continue to remain the same:

  • UAFP will follow the lead of our national Academy in their efforts to provide support to the thousands of family doctors working to combat this virus across the country, including through our state and federal advocacy efforts. 
  • The UAFP Staff will continue to update our website with information from AAFP, the CDC, Utah Department of Health, and other federal and state healthcare partners. 
  • We will continue to send out our newsletter as necessary with information about online events and resources. 
  • We will be releasing our bi-annual magazine in the spring and procuring relevant content over the next month. If you have anything you would like to include (related to the pandemic or otherwise, please let us know!)
  • Our staff will work to support you in any way possible. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us with questions or ideas. This is uncharted territory for all of us, and we want to be as supportive as possible. 

Please stay safe and know that we are here for you in any way we may be of help. We are holding you all in our hearts as we work through this unprecedented event.

With many thanks,

Maryann Martindale, Executive Director 
Barbara Muñoz, Program Director