By the time many of you read this, I'll be in Haiti.

Each year, the AAFP Foundation sends a delegation to this Caribbean country as part of its Family Medicine Cares International program. Twenty-two people -- including 17 family physicians -- will make this year's trip, which is scheduled for Feb. 15-22. We will be split into three teams:

The patient care team will see patients who otherwise might have a long wait to see a physician. Haiti, with a population of 9.7 million people, has less than 50 residency-trained family physicians. During last year's trip, our clinical team provided care to more than 600 patients. This included performing physical exams and providing a year's worth of vitamins to 100 orphans. We will be bringing medical equipment, medications and more with us again this year.

New this year, the Foundation is providing a scholarship for a resident to make the trip. Zita Magloire, M.D., from Wichita, Kan., will be traveling with the medical education team and will give a presentation about her experience to her peers later this year at the National Conference of Family Medicine Residents and Medical Students.

More on that event later.

Helping people appeals to the philanthropic heart of family physicians, and few nations need help more than Haiti, which is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The country continues to recover from the devastating earthquake of January 2010. This will be my fourth visit, and with every visit, I can see progress as Haitians rebuild their country. The participants in our first delegation trip in February 2013, agree that this is a life-changing experience.

Although our delegation makes the trip only once a year, family physicians can work with the AAFP Foundation(www.aafpfoundation.org) to contribute at community clinics in Haiti by volunteering for one week or more to provide patient care at any time during the year.

Family Medicine Cares International is just one of the numerous programs the AAFP Foundation supports throughout the year. These efforts -- which increase the visibility and impact of family medicine -- are possible because of support from AAFP members. The work we do is only limited by the amount of support we receive.

How can you help? One way is to simply go to the Foundation's website and see what programs appeal to you(www.aafpfoundation.org). Members can make donations to a specific program, such as Family Medicine Cares International, or make an unrestricted donation to the Annual Fund.

So where does the money go?

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AAFP Foundation Strengthens Family Medicine