FP Report -- June 1999
AAFP's new resident/student staff leader sets her course
Deborah McPherson, M.D.Deborah McPherson, M.D., has always wanted to be a family physician. It just took her a little longer than most.
"When I was in high school, my mother was involved in a serious car accident," McPherson said. "She was hospitalized for nine months, and during that period, her family physician called the house every day. He wanted to make sure that we were coping all right and that my mother would come home to an intact family. That's what inspired me."
What didn't inspire McPherson was her college guidance counselor, who told her she wasn't smart enough to go to medical school.
"I believed it," McPherson said. "So I got married and had babies."
McPherson, 38, currently the resident member of the AAFP Board of Directors, will become the Division of Medical Education's assistant director Aug. 10. Her responsibilities will include overseeing programs for medical students and family practice residents.
Despite the obstacles thrown in her path, McPherson's dream of becoming a family physician never left her. And when her husband died, she knew it was time to take a shot at accomplishing her goal.
"His death was a turning point," McPherson said. "I stopped and took a look and told myself I needed to go to medical school."
McPherson applied to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha and was accepted. Her new husband, Jeff, became her biggest supporter. He watched their three children as she attended medical school, had another baby and finished her family practice residency at the medical center.
"I've got a good perspective on medical school, family practice residencies and balancing roles," she said. "One of my goals in my new job is to help more residents stay interested in family practice. I think we need to do a better job explaining to both medical students and residents the history of family practice and the fact that we have always been vital to health care."
FP Report is published by the AAFP News Department. Copyright © 1999 by American Academy of Family Physicians.
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