Family Medicine Interest Group (FMIG)
The Department of Family and Community Medicine works closely with the Feinberg School of Medicine's Family Medicine Interest Group, which is led by Feinberg medical students.
Goals
- To expose students to the interaction between primary care and the medical community
- To help students gain a better understanding of determinants of health and how they can be approached from a primary care standpoint
- To build awareness about the specialty of family medicine and primary care, and connect students with University and Community leaders in this area
- To begin to develop the skills required to become a family medicine physician through experiential and classroom learning
- To provide students access and exposure to community health centers, and help them to understand the role they play in patient health care
FMIG Student Leaders:
Julia Helena Walczak: julia.walczak@northwestern.edu
Tanvi Nayak: tanvi.nayak@northwestern.edu
FMIG Faculty Advisor:
Dr. Anna Shannahan is the FMIG Faculty Advisor as well as a Family Medicine faculty member in the department. She is available during office hours to talk to students about family medicine and will be happy to answer any questions.
Office location:
Department of Family and Community Medicine
710 N. Lake Shore Drive, Abbott Hall, 4th floor
Chicago, IL 60611
To schedule an appointment:
Feinberg students who would like to schedule a meeting with Dr. Shannahan please contact the
Department of Family Medicine at 312.503.1273 or fcm@northwestern.edu.
FMIG Listserv
Our department has an FMIG listserv to keep students interested in family medicine updated. If you would like to join the listserv and are a Feinberg student, please email fcm@northwestern.edu.
Family Medicine as a Career
We invite you to continue to explore family medicine as a career. Family Medicine’s national association, American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), offers many great resources that give more in‐depth knowledge about the specialty and what it means to spend your life as a family physician. For example, the webinar, “What is Family Medicine?”, spotlights a typical day as a family physician, discusses the variety of family medicine career options as well as income and lifestyle expectations.
The AAFP offers the only comprehensive residency directory that allows you to search family medicine residency programs by location, community setting, residency program type, program size, and more.
If you would like to pursue additional family medicine opportunities while in medical school, please consider some of the national events and scholarships listed below that can help you get more involved:
The Pisacano Scholars Leadership Program
The Pisacano Leadership Foundation seeks to promote a level of excellence and dedication in students committed to a career in family medicine by providing scholarships and leadership training. Scholarship funding is offered to honor the achievements of student and resident scholars, with hopes of slightly lowering the growing burden of educational debt as scholars embark on a career in Family Medicine. The maximum scholarship award over four years sums to $28,000.
The New Pisacano Leadership Foundation Application is now available. Applications are due May 1, 2025.
AAFP FUTURE Conference (formerly National Conference)
The AAFP FUTURE Conference is the place for medical students to learn more about family medicine, explore residency programs, and network within the family medicine community. There are great workshops and procedural skills courses to attend and opportunities to get involved in national leadership positions (Student Congress) and within IAFP (Illinois Academy of Family Physicians). This annual conference is held in Kansas City, MO during late July or early August. There are scholarship opportunities to help fund your travel expenses to national conference listed below:
Family Medicine Leads (FM Leads) Scholarships for AAFP FUTURE Conference (formerly National Conference)
Family Medicine Leads (FM Leads) scholarships to FUTURE (formerly National Conference) are provided through the American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation. Family Medicine Leads focuses on filling the workforce pipeline with the best and the brightest, as well as supporting the development of future family medicine leaders.
In 2025, 250 scholarships will be awarded to attend FUTURE July 31-August 2, 2025 in Kansas City, MO.
FM Leads Scholarship Categories, Information, Requirements and Guidelines:
- Family Medicine Leads Emerging Leader Institute - Now Accepting Applications - Due March 1, 2025
- Early Career Student (Rising MS 1-3) - Application opens mid February
- Student (Rising MS 4) or Resident Primary Care Champion - Application opens mid February
- Family Medicine Interest Group (FMIG) Leaders - Application opens mid February
The $600 scholarship is intended to help reduce the out-of-pocket expenses to attend FUTURE. All scholarship checks are awarded at FUTURE. If you are unable to meet the attendance requirement or attend the conference for any reason, your scholarship will be forfeited.
FUTURE support from the Department
Northwestern Department of Family Medicine encourages students interested in family medicine to attend FUTURE and will provide partial support to anyone interested in attending, provided the student has applied for all applicable FM Lead scholarships (listed above) to attend. If interested, please complete our application at https://goo.gl/forms/FlEXiOuWqtAYcZng1 by May 15th. If you are unable to attend the FUTURE, your scholarship will be forfeited.
Our Door is Always Open
Please remember our door is always open. We have much to share with you in our department including our current research projects, community efforts in conjunction with our three residency programs (Humboldt Park, Lake Forest, and Delnor) and primary care initiatives. If you would like to meet with our Chair, Dr. Deborah S. Clements, or any of our family medicine faculty, please do not hesitate to contact the department at 312.503.1273 or fcm@northwestern.edu. We are always happy to meet with anyone who would like to discuss family medicine.