The 43rd Forum for Behavioral Science in Family Medicine
September 7-10, 2022 | Chicago, Illinois
Community Health, Collective Action, Professional Responsibility: Behavioral Medicine’s Role in National Healing
2022 Registration Opens June 15, 2022
First held in 1980, The Forum for Behavioral Science in Family Medicine has served to stimulate the advancement of behavioral science in family medicine for 42 consecutive years. At the core of The Forum’s success are three objectives:
- promote professional networking;
- provide high quality professional development opportunities, and
- advance the integration of behavioral science in family medicine training.
The Medical College of Wisconsin Department of Family and Community Medicine has sponsored The Forum since 1999, and the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine has recognized and endorsed the conference since 1981.
This program is designed for physicians, behavioral scientists/coordinators and allied health professionals in family medicine education.

Core Content Areas
The Forum for Behavioral Science in Family Medicine’s program committee will consider proposals relevant to any of the following core content areas:
- The physician-patient relationship and interpersonal-communication skills
- Behavioral health/health behavior change
- Family systems and family-oriented care
- Faculty development for behavioral science educators
- Psychosocial practice and office-based counseling
- Ethics (patient care, education, and research ethics proposals as all welcome)
- Psychiatric disorders and psychopharmacology in primary care
- Resident development and well-being
- Community medicine and multi-cultural care
- Collaborative and integrated care models and practices
- Leadership and administrative responsibilities
- Any original research pertaining to Behavioral Science in primary care
We continue to search for support and healing in the face of sustained stress and conflict. Behavioral scientists have a great deal to offer yet may find it difficult to find the time or muster the energy and resources to add “one more thing” to our plates. We do know that our group of behavioral scientists finds energy and creativity in connection and mutual support. The planning committee is interested in offering at least 40% of the content around improving our ability to cope with and impact these greater community and systemic issues.
Topics of interest for the Forum within this theme include but are not limited to:
- The effects of the pandemic and policy on individual and community health
- Benefits and limits of telehealth for family medicine and behavioral health
- Caring for patients whose individual beliefs threaten our vision of the path to recovery (practical, emotional, and ethical considerations)
- Coping with the anger and burnout related to a broken medical system and divided population
- Leadership and advocacy for behavioral scientists and medical educators
- Addressing Positive and Negative Halos: International Behavioral Medicine, Medicine’s Public Image and Physicians’ Mental Health Fallout
- The critical importance of social connections for personal, professional, and community wellness
Proposal Information
The committee is open to creative, innovative and non-traditional presentations that will help our discipline not only recover but grow as a result of this collective trauma. As always, good proposals will reflect the best available evidence, be engaging, and be practical for our audience.
Thanks to everyone who submitted a proposal!
Frequently Asked Questions
Contact Us
Julie Rickert, PsyD
Program Chair
jrickert@mcw.edu | DFCMEvents@mcw.edu
The Forum encourages its attendees to visit these websites:
American Academy on Communication in Healthcare - AACH
American Balint Society
Association for the Behavioral Sciences and Medical Education - ABSAME
Collaborative Family Healthcare Association - CFHA
Society of Teachers of Family Medicine