Larry S. Fields, M.D., President, American Academy of Family Physicians

Larry S. Fields, M.D., a family physician in Ashland, Ky., is president of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). The Congress of Delegates, the AAFP’s governing body, elected Fields to the position of president-elect during the organization’s annual meeting in October 2004. Previously, he served three years as a member of the AAFP board of directors.

Fields is senior partner at the Family Medicine Center in Ashland. He is a clinical professor at the University of Kentucky in Lexington and the University of Louisville. A member of the AAFP since 1979, Fields has served the Academy in a variety of roles. He chaired the Committee on Scientific Programs in 2000 and has been a delegate to the AAFP Congress of Delegates since 1998. He was a member of the Professional Liability Commission from 1994 to 1995.

Fields is a member of the Kentucky Academy of Family Physicians, a constituent chapter of the AAFP, where he served as president from 1992 to 1993. He has served as legislative chair of the chapter and chair of the Kentucky Chapter Foundation. He is a member of the Kentucky Medical Association and the Greenup County Medical Society. Fields is also a founding member of the Kentucky Research Network, a statewide coalition of family physicians coordinated by the University of Kentucky for the purpose of enhancing research in primary care. In addition, he serves on the Long Range Planning Committee and the Academic Boosters for the Russell School System in Ashland.

The Kentucky Academy of Family Physicians chose Fields as Citizen Doctor of the Year in 2001 and he received the Preceptor of the Year award from the University of Kentucky College of Medicine in 1999. In addition, he received the Outstanding Performance on Pediatrics Citation as a family medicine resident.

A board-certified family physician, Fields earned his undergraduate degree from Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, and his medical degree from the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington. His residency was at the Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu. He served as a major in the Army Medical Corps for seven years. Fields is an AAFP Fellow, an earned degree awarded to family physicians for distinguished service and continuing medical education.