Awards presented at Assembly honor contributions in diverse areas
- Gary Morsch, MD, MPH, of Olathe, KS, was honored with the Academy's new Humanitarian Award for his distinct and enduring contribution to the health and well-being of all people. Dr. Morsch is co-founder of Heart to Heart International, which since 1993 has teamed up with the Academy and the AAFP Foundation to form Physicians With Heart.
- Another new AAFP award, the Exemplary Teaching Award, honored Ken Grauer, MD, professor and assistant director of the family practice residency at the University of Florida, Gainesville (full-time faculty); Thomas M. Davis, MD, assistant professor in the family medicine department, University Medical Center, Jackson, MS (part-time faculty); and Paul R. Palmer, MD, of Syracuse, NY (volunteer faculty).
- Mac F. Cahal, JD, of Prairie Village, KS, the Academy's first executive director, was surprised with the John G. Walsh Award during the AAFP Congress of Delegates. The award recognizes individuals who demonstrate leadership that significantly furthers the development of family medicine.
- The Academy's 1998 Family Physician of the Year, Melvin Pinn, MD, MPH, of Charlotte, NC, was officially announced at the Assembly. The honor recognizes FPs who epitomize the finest standards of family health care.
- Michael W. Barrow, MD, a practicing physician in Dayton, OH, received the Public Health Award for his extraordinary contributions to public schools in Ohio. His work has included establishing protocols for helping special education students fit into the school system with optimal health care support and establishing 144 bassinets in the system to provide nursing care for babies while their mothers (grades 7 through 12) sought to continue their education.
- Vincent R. Hunt, MD, was the recipient of the Thomas W. Johnson Award for outstanding contribution to family practice education. Dr. Hunt is chairman of the family medicine department at Brown University in Pawtucket, RI, and has been involved in establishing departments and residencies overseas.
- Reginald L. Perkin, MD, retired executive director of the College of Family Physicians of Canada, was honored with the Award of Merit for his exceptional individual contributions to the advancement of family medicine.
- William D. French, director of professional relations for Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., received the Outstanding Service Award, which recognizes AAFP vendors, suppliers, and pharmaceutical companies for their outstanding support of AAFP programs and services.
- Anthony Jerant, MD, Ted Epperly, MD, and Jean Barnes-Camp, RN, of Ft. Gordon, GA, and Loretta Schlachta, RN, of New Market, MD, won first place in the Family Practice Management Article Competition for their article on telemedicine, "Back to the Future."
- Lt. Col. Eron Grant Manusov, MD, and Wade A. Lillegard, MD, of Bethesda, MD; Robert F. Raspa, MD, of Charleston, SC; and Ted Epperly, MD, of Ft. Gordon, GA, won the American Family Physician-Walter H. Kemp Award for the most outstanding article published in AFP in the previous year by an FP author. Their two-part article on "Evaluation of Pediatric Foot Problems" appeared in the August and September AFP.
- Outgoing President Patrick Harr, MD, bestowed the President's Award for exceptional service in furthering the purposes of the AAFP to: Eugene S. Farley Jr., MD, of Verona, WI; Jack M. Colwill, MD, of Columbia, MO; Dr. Harr's practice partners, Walter E. Dean, MD, and Michael J. Wurm, MD, of Maryville, MO; and Dr. Harr's wife, Teri Harr.
FP Report is published by the AAFP News Department.