Introduction: Last Friday evening we had a memorial for our colleague, friend, and mentor, Jim Ledwith. It was a moving service thanks to speakers like Liam Burke, Beth Mazyck, Eric Rosenthal, Phil Fournier, and Abigail Gyamfi. The entire night was made possible due to the hard work of Karen Rayla (and her friend Jackie), Pam Tero, Linda Hollis, Heather Garron, and Linda Cragin - thank you. One of the moving moments of the night was the reading of Jim Ledwith's letter of acceptance when he took over as the Medical Director of the Epworth Free Clinic in 2011. Below we share with you what Jim wrote all those years ago - the words speak volumes to who he was. Also, one of the rooms at the Epworth Free Clinic was dedicated in his name. We have included a photo of the plaque that now hangs in the room. We miss you, Jim. You were the best of us.

Introduction: This week I share with you my entry for the Family Medicine Education Consortium Poetry and Prose contest that won second place last week. Hoping this gets you to think back to your first day in practice or something else from your past medical career. As we celebrate our 50th anniversary as a department, it is a good time to look back at our history and our careers. If you have a moment like this - please share this with us through the FMM. For me - it was a chance to think about what I predicted and did not predict, as well as a chance to think about how I might advise someone starting out today.

Introduction: Welcome back to this academic year of the Family Medicine Moments (FMM). And a big welcome to newcomers like students, interns, fellows and new faculty/staff. The FMM is a weekly listserv in our department that was created to honour all the things we do as family physicians and members of the family medicine/community health team. Beyond the grants, presentations, and papers – the stories of our highs and lows and little successes clinically, educationally, spiritually need to be celebrated. The FMM works because you all write down your reflections. This is our 16th year of these stories, haikus, poems, 55-word stories, songs, images!! Please – keep sharing. In this our 50th year as a department – we want to encourage alumni of all types - students, residents, faculty, staff - to write and share their experiences from UMass Family Medicine & Community Health and beyond. For this first week of 2024-25, I share with you an important reflection from Phil Fournier about his retirement. Phil has been with the department for over three decades as a clinician in the Benedict Family Medicine practice, an educator, a mentor, the med school student health director, and the list goes on. I am in awe of Phil – sure I respect his care and his teaching and his writing for the FMM. But more so, I am in awe of who he is. I once was walking behind him in the hospital and he stopped to talk to every person who worked there – the secretary, the janitor, the cafeteria staff – and then he bought them all coffees! His musings below capture this about him. Atul Gawande once challenged medical graduates to “Ask unscripted questions” to get to know others. Phil has asked unscripted questions of unscripted people for decades – and he is a better person for it. We can be better too by following in his footsteps. Thanks, Phil, for your service, your collegiality, your friendship, your mentorship, and your example. And for these words below.

Introduction: Two weeks ago I shared a tribute from one of our scribes in our Scribe Fellowship. This week I am sharing the insights Chidinma Uchendu, an aspiring physician, learned from her scribing experience at Hahnemann. Chidinma was involved with MassAHEC’s high school pipeline program at the Boston AHEC, so she has a long-term interest in a career in medicine. She will be busy this summer preparing for her application to medical school and we wish her a successful outcome!

Introduction: This week I have the pleasure of sharing the first of two letters prepared by this year’s Scribe Fellows. The scribes were asked to write a letter to a provider they really connected with, someone who inspired them and helped them think about their future physician-self. The scribes could also reflect on a patient who made an impact. As you will read, Ashley Street’s future physician-self was informed by what she learned this year scribing and witnessing patient care at Hahnemann. In August, she will join us as a member of the Class of 2028! I think we can all say we look forward to seeing her. Congratulations to Ashley and all who inspired her.

Introduction: I have a special reflection this week. Dr. Ron Adler, a graduate of and long-time faculty member at Hahnemann Family Health Center has recently become the President of the Massachusetts Academy of Family Physicians. He joins an impressive list of former graduates and faculty of the UMass Chan Department of Family Medicine and Community Health including David Gilchrist, Dennis Dimitri, Bob Baldor, Randy Wertheimer, Neil Cannon, Fred Baker, Robert Babineau, Bill Damon and others. As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of our department and honour the ideas of Family Medicine Proud - Ron and others give us ample cause to hold our head high. Ron gave his Presidential address at the annual MAFP conference recently. It speaks to us to remember why we went into this profession and specialty - of course there are challenges all around us and the system is flawed - but we have overcome before because of who we are and what we believe in. His words are a clarion call for us all - our collective team in family medicine and community health - to accept the challenge and inspire our learners, colleagues, patients, staff and indeed ourselves. See what you think.

Introduction: This week I am happy to announce that I am sharing with you a piece by Katharine Barnard (graduate of HFHC and current faculty member at HFHC and Hector Reyes House). Her reflection was recently awarded second place in the Annual STFM Poetry and Prose Writing Contest! Katharine captures how powerful and nuanced the clinician-patient relationship can be. So many thoughtful moments within.

Introduction: I am grateful to my mentee Suhasini Gupta, UMass Chan MS '25, who agreed to have me share her recent reflection from a session we do annually with 3rd years. The prompt asks students to reflect at the end of their clerkships on a time when they felt they were valued or added value; as part of the exercise, they are asked to re-read their medical school application essay (we send it to them) and review last year's Class Oath to help them also comment on how medial school experiences are shaping their values. Suhasini plans to go into orthopedics. Clearly the values she exemplifies in this essay will make her a very special orthopod indeed. And her reflection was a reminder for me to revisit again - why did I go into this wonderful profession? Oh yes - the patients!

Introduction: This week I am celebrating, along with my colleagues, our very successful match into family medicine (and to our residencies)! With 14.02% of UMass Chan students matching into Family Medicine, we exceeded the national average of 12.7% (per AAFP). Family Medicine Proud! This quote from Dr. Victor Johnson, known as the founding father of the College of General Practitioners now the College of Family Physicians in Canada, summarizes their future impact. "I became convinced that the medical profession would be saved not by its organization but by the sum total of the common sense and humanity of its individual practicing members. General practitioners... are the doctors closest to [the] people. They heal more of the broken hearted, repair more of the injured and deprived, and live with the poor and dying who are without influence and hope. As Family Physicians, you are ideally positioned in the health care system to understand patients and their family and community context, and to provide for them a deep connection, compassion, and care." The picture below says it best. These individuals are way more than a statistic. They will make us proud in the way Victor Johnson wanted family doctors to be. Congratulations to these future family physicians and to all who taught, challenged, mentored, coached, consoled, and encouraged them. Take a moment and congratulate yourselves too! Be well.

Introduction: This week I have a visual treat. Last week Sara Shields and I had a session with the PGY1s on the topic of medical humanities and one of the prompts was to go into the hospital and return with a photo of something that is meaningful to you - can be a piece, a thing, a person. The discussion that ensued from these photos was wonderful! I am sharing some of the photos here for you with their title. Enjoy.