In 2016, the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) created a variety of resources for members to continue to use this year and in years to come.
The newest resources include a chronic pain management toolkit and a members’ only continuing medical education webcast to address the opioid abuse epidemic. The AAFP gave the "affirmation of value" designation to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) “Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain – United States, 2016” because AAFP believes the guideline to be helpful to physicians even though the Academy has concerns over some of CDC’s conclusions because of the methodology used. The CDC’s guideline offers physicians 12 recommendations for prescribing opioids for chronic pain.
A large part of 2016 was spent learning about the Zika virus from South America that could harm pregnant women and especially their newborns, causing microcephaly. The Academy developed a page for resources about Zika as well as a map of confirmed cases in the U.S.
Finally, the AAFP released a recommended immunization schedule to family physicians because that is a large part of their daily work. Members can also listen to a free webinar on the benefits of the flu vaccine in older adults.
