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New Physicians
Engage with opportunities to grow your leadership skills, ensure your best interests on your next contract, search for a new position and make meaningful connections through both chapter and national events.
New Physicians in their first seven years of practice enjoy discounts on many Academy event registration fees. Your first year of practice after residency, your dues is discounted by AAFP and IAFP.
Membership = Community Building: Opportunities to connect with other family physicians in Illinois and across the country at different events, conferences and online. Get started with an IAFP Member Interest Group
• Exclusive Resources: Tools tailored for new physicians, including financial planning, contract negotiation guides and work-life balance and other well-being strategies. See below for our resources and link to AAFP Member Advantage Discounts and Services
• Advocacy: The Academy delivers representation at local, state and national levels to ensure your voice is heard in policy-making for family medicine. We also provide the tools you need to deliver your messages directly to lawmakers. Our Spring into Action event every two years brings family medicine directly to the Statehouse. AAFP's Family Medicine Advocacy Network is your starting point for your Federal advocacy priorities.
• Professional Development: Access to CME opportunities, evidence-based clinical guidelines and tools to stay current in family medicine. Plus the state mandated CME you need your way delivered by your Illinois family medicine peers.
"The Illinois Academy truly shaped who I am as a family medicine physician. I got involved as a second year medical student and subsequently took on several state and national leadership roles in which I learned a lot about advocacy about health policy and about organized medicine. But most importantly, the IAFP connected me with family physicians from around the state, talking about different working in different practice settings, and ultimately it's how I found my job."
Our February 2025 Illinois Family Physician magazine “Cover Doc” Kristina Dakis, MD, FAAFP served as a board member and hosted a Summer Externship student the past three summers. She practices at Family Healthcare of Gibson City.
Other Resources
