Membership Stronger Than Ever

Congratulations to MAFP! Mississippi had the second-highest 2017 membership retention rate of all states, AAFP announced in February. In 2017, more than 97% of AAFP members living in Mississippi continued their membership, and at present, our membership numbers are up 6.4% when comparing May 2017 to May 2018.

“Your hard work and perseverance really paid off!” said Marci McNeal, AAFP chapter relations strategist. She said Mississippi is in the top 5 chapters nationally for growth.

These numbers represent the efforts of many. MAFP officers and staff made phone calls last spring to unpaid members reminding them to re-join. The Academy Committee and its chair, Dr. David Wheat of Clinton, were also very focused on membership retention this year.

In Kansas City this April, MAFP officers and delegates were presented with four different AAFP membership awards at a luncheon recognizing excellence in membership recruitment and retention. Competing with other state chapters who are similar in membership numbers, MAFP received the following:

MAFP Membership Awards Won, 2017

• 1st place in percent increase in student membership

• Recognition for 100 percent resident membership

• 2nd place for active membership retention percentage

• 2nd place for new physician retention percentage

Student Membership Soars

MAFP’s membership from Mississippi’s two medical schools almost doubled from 2017 to 2018, proving that MAFP’s recent student recruitment efforts have paid dividends.

Student membership from University of Mississippi Medical Center rose from 158 in April 2017 to 315 in April 2018, an increase of 99%. Student membership from William Carey University COM rose 90%, from 54 in April 2017 to 102 in April 2018.

There is no charge for medical students to join AAFP/MAFP. Students simply complete and return a membership application.

The most significant factor behind the increase is the involvement of four student board members elected a year ago. Each

student was asked to be an ambassador for family medicine and MAFP on their campus, and the students came through big-time, actively recruiting fellow students and promoting our activities within their networks and on social media. These members included WCUCOM student Terry Moran and UMMC students Craig Bullock, Will Casey and Caleb Zumbro.

“It makes me happy to see such a significant increase,” Moran said. “Those students are the ones who will fill the primary care physician shortage in our state.”

Bullock agreed. “I believe this growth is the result of much cultivation and hard work by the MAFP, the UMMC Family Medicine Department and the students of the Family Medicine Interest Group. I hope this trend will continue.”

MAFP staff member Kay-Lynn Meador, Foundation and Workforce Director, also worked hard to increase student membership by recruiting members at both medical schools. At UMMC, Meador gave a presentation at a special luncheon for M1s, visited a FMIG meeting, participated in the FMIG’s Recruitment Fair, and hosted a luncheon with guest speaker John Dowdy of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics. At WCUCOM, Meador hosted a luncheon for students and exhibited at the school’s Hospital Day and Residency Fair.

Medical students make up 37% of MAFP’s total members (435 as of April 30). Benefits of student membership include receiving FutureDox, a quarterly newsletter, an invitation to the Foundation’s Spring Fling focusing on residents and students, and opportunities for leadership and scholarships.