Welcome to part three of our limited series where we pull back the curtain on the publication process. This episode features Family Medicine editors Sarina Schrager, MD, MS, and Octavia Amaechi, MD, advising on what to do upon receiving that dreaded rejection notification. Everybody gets papers rejected, and the reviewer’s comments provide an opportunity to grow, refine your paper, and make it stronger for the next journal submission. Our editors share opportunities to refine your writing skills and keep your work out of the rejection pile. Above all else, they encourage you to remember your “why” and to keep going!

Hosted by Saria Saccocio, MD, MHA, FAAFP
Copyright © Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, 2024

Resources:

• Quick Consult - formerly the Virtual Coaching Program
• STFM Leadership through Scholarship Fellowship
• STFM CERA Fellowship
• STFM Medical Editing Fellowship
• STFM URM Mentorship Program
• PRiMER Author Mentorship Program
• American Family Physician Jay Siwek Medical Editing Fellowship
• Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine Research and Editing Fellowship
• Annals of Family Medicine Editorial Fellowship

Guest Bio:
Sarina Schrager, MD, MS
Editor in Chief Family Medicine
Sarina Schrager, MD, MS, is a professor in the University of Wisconsin’s Department of Family Medicine and Community Health (UW DFMCH). She also serves as UW DFMCH’s director of promotions and mentoring and as Wisconsin Research and Education Network’s medical director. Prior to becoming the editor in chief of Family Medicine, she served in the same capacity at Wisconsin Medical Journal, as an editor for FPM, and on the editorial board of the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine. Her research expertise is in residency education and faculty development, and her recent work has focused on shared decision-making in cancer screening. She obtained her MD at the University of Illinois, Chicago, her residency training as well as a primary care women’s health fellowship at MacNeal Hospital, and a faculty development fellowship at UW DFMCH.

Octavia Amaechi, MD
DEIA Editor Family Medicine
Octavia Amaechi, MD, serves as the chief of staff, a hospitalist, and Health Equity Committee chair at the Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System and as a faculty physician in the Spartanburg Regional Family Medicine Residency (SRFMR) program. She holds positions as a mentor in STFM’s Leadership Through Scholarship Program, a board member of the Spartanburg County Medical Society, an annual delegate and reference committee chair of the South Carolina Medical Association, and member of the South Carolina Academy of Family Physicians Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusiveness. Her expertise is in diversity, equity, inclusion, antiracism, patient and community advocacy, inpatient/hospital medicine, and MAT for Opioid Use Disorder. She completed her MD at the University of Health Sciences Antigua, her residency training a