In this episode, Dr. Cynthia Chen-Joea goes solo to talk with Dr. Laura Murphy, family physician, educator, her medical school classmate, and the current New Physician Director on the CAFP board. Dr. Murphy has been deeply involved in leadership, advocacy, and education. They talk about her journey, the challenges and opportunities facing early career physicians, and resources that can support you along the way.

GUESTS

• Laura Murphy, DO - Dr. Murphy received her B.S. in Biopsychology from University of California, Santa Barbara and then her medical degree from Western University College of Osteopathic Medicine. During medical school, she served as the FMIG president and began her advocacy journey with the CAFP through various leadership positions, including medical student member on the CAFP board. As a family medicine resident at UC San Diego, Dr. Murphy started on the CCPD for which she now co-chairs. After residency, she completed a sports medicine fellowship at UC San Diego to pursue her passion for empowering patients to live a healthy, active lifestyle. She is currently an associate program director at Ventura County Medical Center Family Medicine Residency program where she practices outpatient family medicine and sports medicine, as well as lead the musculoskeletal and advocacy curriculum for the residents. In her free time, she enjoys playing with her 8 month old, Cooper, and share the love of backpacking, brewery hopping, and traveling with her husband, Steve.  

The Family Docs Podcast is hosted by Rob Assibey, MD, FAAFP and Cynthia Chen-Joea, DO, FAAFP. 

RESOURCES

• New Physician Toolkit - www.familydocs.org/nptoolkit
• AAFP's Career Benchmark Dashboard & Survey - "Know Your Worth" - www.aafp.org/worth
• Direct Primary Care resources - https://www.familydocs.org/dpc
• Family Medicine's Gender Pay Gap - https://www.jabfm.org/content/35/1/7
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Family Medicine
   - https://www.aafp.org/family-physician/practice-and-career/managing-your-practice/artificial-intelligence.html
• CAFP Online Education - https://www.familydocs.org/cme & https://education.familydocs.org  
• Family Medicine POP: Prism of Practice conference, August 21-23, 2026 (San Diego) - www.familydocs.org/pop
• CAFP's All Member Advocacy Meeting (AMAM), March 14-16, 2026 (Sacramento) - www.familydocs.org/amam  
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Information:

The Family Docs podcast is developed, produced, and recorded by the California Academy of Family Physicians. The views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities they represent or the California Academy of Family Physicians. More information at www.familydocs.org/podcast. 

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