Rick Kellerman, M.D., Assumes Role of President for the American Academy of Family Physicians

WASHINGTON – Rick Kellerman, M.D., a practicing family physician in Wichita, Kan., assumes the role of president of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) today at the AAFP’s annual meeting. The Congress of Delegates, the AAFP’s governing body, elected Kellerman to the position of president-elect during the organization’s annual meeting in September 2005. Previously, he served three years as a member of the AAFP Board of Directors. The AAFP represents more than 94,000 physicians and medical students nationwide. He will be installed at the Delegate’s dinner on September 28.

Kellerman is in practice with the Medical Practice Association, Wichita. He also serves as professor and chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita.

Kellerman received his undergraduate degree from Fort Hays State University, Hays, Kan., and his medical degree from the University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kan. He completed his residency at Wesley Medical Center, Wichita, serving as chief resident in his final year. He then completed a fellowship at the McLennan County Medical Education and Research Foundation, Waco, Texas. He is board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine and is an AAFP fellow, an earned degree awarded to family physicians for distinguished service and continuing medical education.

A member of the AAFP since 1975, Kellerman served on the AAFP Foundation Board of Trustees and has served as board liaison to the commissions on Health Care Services, Quality and Scope of Practice, Membership and Member Services and the committees on Special Constituencies, Rural Health and Chapter Affairs. He also served on the Task Force on Care of Children. Kellerman served on the AAFP’s Strategic Planning Committee and the Congress of Delegates Resolution Subcommittee.

As a member of the Kansas Academy of Family Physicians (KAFP), Kellerman has served in all of the KAFP officer positions and on numerous committees. He has represented KAFP to the AAFP Congress of Delegates and also served on the KAFP Foundation Board of Directors. Kellerman served as physician representative for the Kansas Hospital Association Board of Directors from 1999 to 2005.

Kellerman has received numerous honors and citations, including the inaugural Kansas Board of Regents Faculty Award, 2003; the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita Golden Chair Award, 1999; the United States Public Health Service Primary Care Policy Fellow, Washington, D.C., 1997; the National Health Service Corps Award for Excellence, Region VII, 1995; and the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine New Faculty Award, 1989.

Kellerman served as program director of the Smoky Hill Family Practice Residency in Salina, Kan., during which time the National Rural Health Association selected the program for its 1996 Outstanding Rural Health Program in America Award. Kellerman is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha honorary medical society.

Kellerman has worked on the international level with Partners of the Americas to establish family medicine education in Paraguay. The initiative received the Award of Excellence from Partners of the Americas, Quito, Ecuador, in 2002.