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Joseph Hobbs, M.D., Receives American Academy of Family Physician’s Thomas W. Johnson Award For Contributions in Family Practice Medical Education

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, October 03, 2003

Contact:
Amanda Denning
American Academy of Family Physicians
(800) 274-2237, Ext. 5223
adenning@aafp.org

NEW ORLEANS — Joseph Hobbs, M.D., vice dean for primary care and community affairs for the Medical College of Georgia School of Medicine, is the recipient of the American Academy of Family Physicians’ 2003 Thomas W. Johnson Award. The award, which recognizes those who have made outstanding and substantial contributions to education for family practice in undergraduate, graduate and continuing medical education, was presented to Hobbs during the AAFP’s annual Scientific Assembly today in New Orleans.

A board-certified family physician since 1977, Hobbs is a professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia and has served the department as associate professor and vice chair of academic affairs. Hobbs has served as director of the Family Medicine Clerkship, Joint Board of Family Practice Statewide Presceptorship Program, Student Education Programs, Family Medicine Residency Program, and the Office of Recruitment and Retention.

Hobbs currently holds several positions within the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine. He serves on its board of directors, is a member of its Family Practice Assistance Program and is an Association of Departments of Family Medicine Representative for STFM’s Family Medicine Curriculum Advisory Committee. Hobbs is also a member of the Rural Health Services Advisory Board for the Department of Community Health, Office of Rural Health Services.

Hobbs’ published works have appeared in American Family Physician, Journal of the Medical Association of Georgia, Family Medicine and The American Journal of Medicine.

This award is named in honor of family physician Thomas Johnson, M.D., a long-time member of the AAFP. Johnson joined the AAFP staff in 1969 and served as director of the Division of Education from 1971 until 1973.

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Founded in 1947, the AAFP represents more than 93,000 physicians and medical students nationwide. It is the only medical society devoted solely to primary care.

Nearly one in four of all office visits are made to family physicians. That is 215 million office visits each year – nearly 48 million more than the next medical specialty. Today, family physicians provide the majority of care for America’s underserved and rural populations.

In the increasingly fragmented world of health care where many medical specialties limit their practice to a particular organ, disease, age or sex, family physicians are dedicated to treating the whole person across the full spectrum of ages. Family medicine’s cornerstone is an ongoing, personal patient-physician relationship focused on integrated care.

To learn more about the American Academy of Family Physicians and about the specialty of family medicine, please visit www.aafp.org.

For more information about the AAFP's positions on issues and clinical care and downloadable multi-media on family medicine and health care, visit the AAFP Media Center.

For more information about health care, health conditions, and wellness, please visit familydoctor.org.