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Thomas Weida Re-Elected Vice Speaker of the American Academy of Family Physicians

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, October 02, 2003

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

NEW ORLEANS — Thomas Weida, M.D., a family physician in Hershey, Pa., was re-elected vice speaker of the American Academy of Family Physicians’ (AAFP) governing body, the Congress of Delegates, and will continue to serve on the Academy's board of directors. Weida has served as vice speaker for one year. The AAFP represents more than 94,300 physicians and medical students nationwide.

Weida is associate professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey. He is medical director of the University Physician Group at Fishburn Road, which is affiliated with Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.

Weida has served on numerous AAFP committees and the editorial board of Family Practice Management, the AAFP’s practice management journal. He also reviews patient education materials for the Family Health Foundation of America. Weida is past president of the Pennsylvania Academy of Family Physicians, is a member of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) and is a fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. In 1998, Harrisburg Magazine included Weida among the top doctors in the Harrisburg area and in 2002 he was listed in The Best Doctors in America by Best Doctors, Inc. In 1993, his practice won the AAFP/STFM Patient Care Award for Patient Education by a Physician.

Weida earned his undergraduate and medical degrees in the six-year B.A.-M.D. program at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pa., and Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital, Philadelphia. He completed his family practice residency at Lancaster General Hospital. He is board certified by the American Board of Family Practice and is an AAFP Fellow, an earned degree awarded to family physicians for distinguished service and continuing medical education.

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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.