Academy friendships become an opportunity to fund student and resident scholarships

In 2022, when Sarah Sams, M.D., FAAFP, was approached about establishing an endowed fund with the AAFP Foundation, she knew she wanted to include her close friends Alan Schwartzstein, M.D., FAAFP, and David Hagan, M.D., C.P.E., FAAPL, FAAFP, who shared her passion for philanthropic giving.

Sams said the friendships with Schwartzstein and Hagan started when they were each serving as state chapter presidents in 2010. "We not only look forward to seeing each other yearly at conferences or regional meetings, but we have become close friends outside of work. Despite differing practice situations or decisions, we have always had great camaraderie."

The Three Amigos Fund was established to provide residents or students from the Amigos’ home states of Ohio, Wisconsin and Illinois with Family Medicine Leads scholarships to attend the National Conference and/or the Emerging Leaders Institute (ELI). Through ELI, participants are mentored on projects promoting leadership, advocacy, philanthropy and mission.

"I see in the students and residents the future of family medicine," said Sams. "By already choosing to go into family medicine, we can utilize this fund to get them excited to be part of ELI and the specialty of Family Medicine at the very early stage of their career."

Sams’ parents always shared the importance of caring for others and living within your means, so from an early age, Sams knew she always wanted to give back in the same spirit. Sams is grateful that her parents supported her education and worked hard to for her to graduate with less medical school debt than many of her peers.

"My parents were always philanthropic, so it was important to me to continue giving, and raising student leaders is one way I can provide," added Sams.

Sams not only serves as a donor to the AAFP Foundation but she has also served on the AAFP Commission on Finance and Insurance and the AAFP Commission on Governmental Advocacy, serving as chair of both commissions. As an Ohio delegate to the AAFP Congress of Delegates, she has met people like Schwartzstein and Hagan, who share similar values and goals for family medicine. “We have more in common than we have different so we should work together to celebrate that.”

Her work as an Ohio delegate to the AAFP Congress of Delegates is one area where Sams has seen the power of collaboration, and it’s that power that she and her colleagues leveraged to create the Three Amigos Fund. Her hope for the Three Amigos Fund is, not only that family medicine learners will find the scholarships helpful at their current stage in life, but also that the fund might encourage them to find their own opportunities to support the Foundation and the advancement of the specialty.