Oct. 7-11 is National Primary Care Week (NPCW), a great opportunity to learn about the roles, critical contributions, current and emerging issues and opportunities in the field.
Funded in part by the American Medical Student Association (AMSA) through a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, NPCW is an annual event to highlight the importance of primary care and bring health care professionals together to discuss and learn about generalist and interdisciplinary health care, particularly its impact on and importance to underserved populations.
According to the AMSA website, this year’s theme, “Step Up to Primary Care,” focuses on the importance of interdisciplinary education and professionalism in primary care, and the critical need for advocacy and health policy reform to address disparities in health care access and outcomes, pertaining to race, gender, sexuality and socio-economic factors. NPCW’s goal is to engage physicians-in-training, students across the health care spectrum, and the general population on the indispensible role of primary care in our health care system. 
The DMU chapter of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians (ACOPF), the Geriatrics Club, the OBGYN Club, the Pediatrics Club and the Student Osteopathic Internal Medicine Association (SOIMA) will offer several events on campus this week to highlight and promote primary care and its providers. Today over the noon hour in the Student Education Center (SEC) atrium, you can sweeten your knowledge of primary care while enjoying free ice cream. On Tuesday in the SEC Auditorium, 7-8 p.m., a free “Many Faces of Primary Care” panel will feature six physicians from around the Des Moines community who practice in the primary care disciplines.
In addition, you can catch AMSA webinars on primary care Tuesday-Thursday this week, noon to 1 p.m., in Munroe 102. Tuesday’s topic will be interprofessional collaboration; Wednesday’s, medical debt and loan repayment; and Thursday’s, National Health Service Corps.
Later this month, a physician speaker will visit campus to discuss the changing environment of finances/reimbursement in primary care. More details to come on that.
Primary care providers take care of everyone. Learn more about their work and opportunities in the profession during National Primary Care Week!
