April 1, 2026
On March 27 and March 28, NCAFP members gathered to prepare the future skills and pathways of Family Medicine in Raleigh. On Friday afternoon, NC Family Medicine residency and medical school leaders and faculty attended the 2026 Family Academic Summit in the Marriott Raleigh Crabtree Valley. On Saturday, medical students and representatives from almost all of the NC Family Medicine Residency programs attended the 2026 Family Medicine Day in the same venue. At both events, attendees enjoyed the learning and the company.
“We are grateful for everyone who attended, the generative discussions they led, and their shared commitment to preparing the next generation of family physicians,” said Kathryn Atkinson, CMP, NCAFP Director of CME & Events. “Thank you to everyone who joined us for both the Summit and Family Medicine Day!”
During the Academic Summit, Residency Program and Medical School leaders and faculty gathered to learn the newest ideas and skills to improve undergraduate and graduate medical education, under the direction of program co-chairs Dr. Regina Bray Brown and Dr. Robert Agnello. The event’s sessions included community retention strategies, new collaborative curricula, the future of physician workforce policy in North Carolina, and other topics which the audience members can immediately use in their residency programs and classrooms.
During Family Medicine Day the following morning, over 80 medical students attended workshops hosted by NC Family Medicine residency faculty and residents. Thanks to those workshops, these students experienced the vast scope of the medical care that family physicians provide. These applied sessions taught students to perform suturing, endometrial biopsies, joint injections, point-of-care ultrasound tests, and many other skills to help interested medical students understand what they might do for their patients as family physicians. “I genuinely loved all my workshops and can’t pick a favorite,” said Duke University MS-1 Chloe Miwa. “This was such a fun day.”
The Academic Summit included top-notch education on training future family physicians while they are still medical students and residents. “We need to be in a constant state of program improvement due to rapid changes like regulatory shifts, the impact of COVID-19, and advances in AI,” said Yale University Family Medicine Residency Founding Program Director Dr. Wendy Barr during her keynote address.
Family Medicine Day helped to recruit those future family physicians while they are still medical students. “If you’re enjoying every single one of your rotations, you might be a future Family Medicine doc,” NCAFP President Dr. Benjamin “Frankie” Simmons told students during his Family Medicine Day keynote “Fireside Chat” with NCAFP Workforce Initiatives Manager Perry Price.
That recruiting is also immersive thanks to the residencies’ workshops. Medical students tried many of the procedures which family physicians provide for their patients. “I had a great time learning about the various procedures that family physicians can perform,” said one attendee in a post-event survey.
This exposure to the specialty helped medical students commit to Family Medicine, according to their own survey reports. 56.1% of the students reported they were more likely to consider Family Medicine as their future specialty, thanks to attending Family Medicine Day. “I am more excited about Family Medicine than before, and this experience has only solidified my decision to pursue it!” said one attendee.
“The Family Medicine Academic Summit was a fantastic opportunity for Family Medicine educators from across the state to exchange ideas and explore strategies to enhance medical education,” Atkinson said. “We’re already considering even more ways to spur deeper, longer discussions among our attendees during the 2027 Summit!”
During Family Medicine Day, the social connections among attendees proved just as important. Students arrived in the lobby to congregate more than 30 minutes before the day’s first workshop started. “I really enjoy how much everyone here loves Family Medicine,” Wake Forest University MS-3 Stuart Lewis said.
During the Residency Fair at the end of the event, their conversations moved into a hall full of Family Medicine residency directors, faculty, and residents. Connecting with these physicians who might one day become their teachers and colleagues was an invaluable part of attending Family Medicine Day. “I am leaving feeling so inspired by the breadth and depth of support within the NCAFP network,” said one attendee in a post-event survey. “All the programs so clearly care about the success of their students.”
“This event is a great place to meet like-minded doctors away from our regular workloads,” said Dr. Carlos Ramos, a first-year resident at the Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center.
The social connection was also integral for the attendees at the Academic Summit. “This is a fantastic networking opportunity to meet faculty from the other residency programs,” said one attendee at the Summit. “I felt like I learned a lot about what is being discussed behind the curtain.”
See for yourself what all this collaboration and enjoyment looked like through our photo galleries from the weekend:
We’d like to thank all the guests who joined us this past weekend for your insights, expertise, and great company.
We’d also like to thank the residency programs who hosted workshops or exhibited this year:
The North Carolina Academy of Family Physicians, Inc. (NCAFP) is a nonprofit professional association headquartered in Raleigh which represents over 4,300 family physicians, family medicine residents, and medical students across the state. It is the largest medical specialty association in North Carolina and is a constituent chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians, based in Leadwood, KS.
