Overview
The LAFP Foundation is excited to hold the 2026 Research Poster Contest. The competition is sponsored by the LAFP Foundation and promotes scholarly activity by our family medicine students and residents. The poster contest provides a unique opportunity to share research with the entire LAFP membership.
NEW FOR THE 2026 RESEARCH POSTER COMPETITION
An abstract is required for a poster to be submitted to the contest. All submitted abstracts will be reviewed by the judges. Each author will receive a compiled summary from the judges. Authors are encouraged to incorporate any recommendations in their final poster submission.
***ALL SUBMITTED ABSTRACTS WILL BE ACCEPTED FOR POSTER SUBMISSION***
Eligibility
The author must be a student, resident or fellow, and must be the primary author. The primary author must be an LAFP/AAFP resident/student/fellow member and enrolled and in good standing in a Louisiana medical school, family medicine residency program or family medicine affiliated fellowship. Though residents may work in groups and with faculty advisors, a primary author must be identified with each abstract submission.
Important Dates
| November 1, 2025 | Call for Abstracts |
| January 31, 2026 | Abstract Submission Deadline |
| February 1, 2026 – March 31, 2026 | LAFP Abstract Review Process |
| April 3, 2026 | Abstract Review Evaluations sent to Authors |
| April 3, 2026 – June 1, 2026 | Authors to Finalize electronic, PDF poster submissions |
| June 1, 2026 | Final electronic, PDF poster submissions Deadline |
| June 2, 2026 – July 3, 2026 | LAFP Poster Review Process |
| July 24, 2026 | Winners announced at the LAFP Awards Ceremony (Details to follow) |
Abstract Submission Process
Submissions may be submitted based on and designated in one of the following categories (a description of each category is provided below):
- Category 1: Quality and Practice Improvement/Research
- Category 2: Community or Education Project
The abstract is limited to a 1500–2000 - word limit - not including Title, Authors with their institutional association, and references. Please limit references to < 5 submitted for this initial review. Please review abstracts for spelling, grammar and sentence structure prior to submission.
The abstract should include:
- Title and Principal Author information. Corresponding authors may be listed.
- AAFP ID #
- Contact information including Email address, cell phone and organizational affiliation
- Headshot and short bio
- Introduction: Subject, purpose, and relevance of the submission to family medicine
- Background information: Objective, setting, participants
- Relevant Literature: focused, relevant and supporting claims made. Please limit to 1-2 sentences that highlight the most important literature
- Interventions/Treatment/Project Plan
- Results/Outcome (If project is in process, explain results/outcomes anticipated)
- Conclusions: Summary, including implications for family medicine practice, teaching, and/or impact on community.
- References
***A key goal of this poster project is to ensure that students, residents, and fellows conduct and present original, creative scholarly work relevant to the field of family medicine. To that end, and in acknowledgment of the availability yet the early stage of development and application of technologies like artificial technologies in academic productivity, the LAFP Poster Contest Committee has developed this statement and expectation:
USE OF GENERATIVE AI IN CREATING AN ACADEMIC PRODUCT
Should generative AI technologies be used in the creation of your academic work, whether to create, write, review, revise, or edit any of the content in a manuscript or poster, authors are expected to disclose that use in an acknowledgment section of their abstract submission and, if accepted, as part of their final product. Such disclosure should be brief and include a concise description of how the AI was used and on what portions of the product/poster/manuscript, along with a statement confirming that the author(s) takes responsibility for the integrity of the content generated. The disclosure should be included at the start of the reference section. Please note that this guidance does not apply to basic tools for checking grammar, spelling, reference searches or verification, and similar.
Abstracts will be reviewed by the judging panel for adherence to guidelines, relevance to family medicine, validity of results/conclusions, and overall impact of the project. Applicants will be given feedback from the abstract review. Recommendations should be incorporated in the final poster submission.
Please review the abstract evaluation criteria below.
| Criteria | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Adherence to Guidelines | Does not follow guidelines at all | Some elements missing or incorrectly formatted | Mostly follows guidelines with minor issues | Adheres well to guidelines with minimal deviation | Fully compliant with all guidelines |
| Subject/Purpose | Unclear or lacks a defined subject/purpose | Somewhat defined but lacks clarity | Adequately defined with minor ambiguities | Clearly defined with good focus | Exceptionally clear and well-articulated |
| Relevance to FM | Not relevant | Minimally relevant, weak connection | Moderately relevant but not central | Highly relevant, contributes meaningfully | Essential and directly impactful |
| Results/Outcomes | No results or unclear outcomes | Results present but lack clarity or rigor | Somewhat clear, but limited depth or rigor | Clear, well-presented, and well-supported | Strong, well-analyzed, and highly informative |
| Conclusion/Summary | No clear conclusion or summary | Vague or incomplete conclusion | Adequate but could be stronger | Clear, well-reasoned summary | Strong, impactful, and well-supported |
| Impact/Implications | No clear impact or implications | Minimal impact, weak real-world application | Somewhat relevant but limited in scope | Meaningful impact, useful for practice or education | High-impact, practice-changing potential |
| References | No references included | Few or inadequate references | Sufficient references but not well-integrated | Well-selected, properly formatted references | Strong, up-to-date, and well-integrated references |
| Organization, Overall Writing | Disorganized, unclear, or poorly written | Some structure but difficult to follow | Organized but could be more concise or refined | Well-structured and clearly written | Exceptionally well-written, highly polished |
| TOTAL (max=50) |
Submission Categories
Each category below includes sample posters in each submission category and suggested poster heading organization categories. Click the links provided for examples.
- Quality and Practice Improvement:
Quality initiatives and practice improvement efforts must clearly define the problem on which the quality initiative focuses. A single project goal should be defined, and it must be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely. The project should describe why this quality problem is relevant to family medicine, must describe the gap between current practice and preferred practice and what improvement the submitter hopes to achieve. Example poster - Research:
Summarize the results of a well-defined basic or clinical research project, including a hypothesis, dependent and independent variables, tests for measures of association, succinct discussion of data, etc. All work should be original and relevant to Family Medicine. Projects may involve observational, analytical or interventional studies. Example poster - Community Project:
Describe personal experience working on a community-based initiative to improve the health of a specific population (e.g., providing adolescent AIDS education, working with school nurses to develop asthma action plans, establishing a health care program for the homeless, etc.) The Corresponding Author must have served in a leadership role in the planning and execution of the project. The description should include an evaluation of the project, and the project must be relevant to family medicine. Example poster 1 Example poster 2 - Education Project:
Describe an educational project/program or curricular innovation that has been evaluated for its impact on medical student or resident training. Student/resident applicant(s) must have played a substantive role in the creation, implementation, and/or evaluation of the target program. This may be done in collaboration with faculty. Applicant needs to state specifically the role played in the program and describe the projects relevance to family medicine education. Example poster
Poster Submission Process
- The poster is expected to be consistent with the content of the abstract submitted.
- The final version of the poster must be submitted electronically as a PDF or PowerPoint file
- Please also see Hints for An Effective Poster for additional guidance and suggestions for preparing your poster.
- Attendance at the LAFP meeting by those with accepted submissions is strongly encouraged but not required for poster participants.
- Poster winners will be announced during the LAFP Awards Ceremony on Friday, July 24, 2026 in Destin, FL
- Sponsoring institution IRB requirements for the submitting program’s institution or school must be followed and must accompany the submission. Documentation of approval or exemption status should be initiated prior to abstract submission. Documentation of IRB status or program requirements must accompany the submission.
- Prizes will be awarded to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners.
The suggested section headings for posters, below, are provided as a guideline for structure and all are not required. Please adapt or select sections to meet the needs of your submitted poster, depending on the specific category and project.
Poster Section Headings
- Title and Author information
- Introduction/Project/Program description
- Objectives/purpose/Clinical Scenario/Case Description
- Discussion of Methodology/Practice guidelines/Relevant Literature Applicant’s role in project/program
- Results/Treatment Course
- Conclusions/Discussion
- References
Questions
For more information or questions, please contact Lee Ann Albert at email: