More than 100 physicians from across Michigan gathered in Kalamazoo in mid-July for the 2018 Michigan Family Medicine Conference & Expo.
The event, which was held from July 12-15, 2018, is the annual scientific conference for the Michigan Academy of Family Physicians and it offered an opportunity for leaders at the medical school to showcase WMed, the W.E. Upjohn M.D. Campus and the Family Medicine residency program to doctors from across the state.
“The story of our building is pretty neat,” said Dr. Glenn Dregansky, program director for the the medical school’s Family Medicine residency in Kalamazoo who also serves on the MAFP Board of Directors and was part of the organizing committee for this year’s conference. “It’s downtown and a major force in changing downtown Kalamazoo for the better. We wanted to share that with people from around the state.
“It was pretty cool.”
This year’s conference was significant for the MAFP and its members as the organization is celebrating its 70th anniversary.
Several WMed faculty members gave presentations at the conference, including Dr. Dregansky, Dr. Lisa Graves, interim chair of the medical school’s Department of Family and Community Medicine and associate dean for Faculty Affairs; Dr. Tyler Gibb, co-chief for the Program in Medical Ethics, Humanities and Law, and Dr. Peter Ziemkowski, associate dean for Student Affairs.
“I want us to be on people’s radar,” Dr. Graves said. “The conference gave us an opportunity to showcase the school, our department and residency programs, and the things we have to offer.”
Dr. Dregansky said about 20 continuing medical education credits were available to conference attendees. The majority of the offerings at the conference were held at the Radisson Plaza Hotel & Suites in downtown Kalamazoo. However, on Saturday, July 14, about 40 physicians attended a breakfast and lectures at the W.E. Upjohn M.D. Campus.
Dr. Dregansky said the group got an opportunity to tour the first and second floors of the campus, as well as the medical school’s 24,000 square-foot Simulation Center that is housed on the ground floor of the W.E. Upjohn M.D. Campus.
“A lot of people were impressed with the architecture of the building and very impressed with the Simulation Center,” Dr. Dregansky said. “With that many family physicians in town, showcasing our campus, the medical school and our residency programs was just too good of an opportunity to pass up.
“We just kind of seized the moment.”