Georgia Physician Elected to the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Family Physicians

SAN DIEGO – George W. Shannon, M.D., FAAFP, a family physician in Columbus, Ga., has been elected to the board of directors of the American Academy of Family Physicians. The AAFP represents more than 93,000 physicians and medical students nationwide. Dr. Shannon was elected to a three-year term by the AAFP’s governing body, the Congress of Delegates.

Dr. Shannon is a founding partner of Horizon Physician Network, Inc. and Horizons Diagnostics, L.L.C. in Columbus, Ga. He currently serves on the board of directors for Horizons Diagnostics and Quality Healthcare Partners in Columbus. As an AAFP board member, he will advocate on behalf of family physicians and patients nationwide to inspire positive change in the U.S. health care system.

Dr. Shannon’s commitment to primary care was established early on during his internship and residency at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. This commitment grew stronger during his service with the U.S. Public Health Service, National Health Service Corps in Parsons, Tenn., a town of 2,500 with a 25-bed hospital. In 1976, Dr. Shannon became the founding director of the University of Tennessee Family Medicine Residency Program at the Jackson-Madison County General Hospital in Jackson, Tenn., where he further realized the value of family medicine.

In 1982, Dr. Shannon became the director of medical education at The Medical Center in Columbus, Ga., and served as an associate dean for both the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta and the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta from 1982 to 1988. Dr. Shannon also has held clinical appointments in the Department of Family Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia and Mercer University School of Medicine in Macon, Ga. In addition, he operated a solo family medicine practice in Columbus for six years.

At the state level, Dr. Shannon has been an active member of the Georgia Academy of Family Physicians since 1983, where he has served in many leadership positions including president and chairman of the board of directors, and on numerous commissions and committees, including the Committee on Legislation and the Professional Affairs Committee. Dr. Shannon currently serves as president of the Foundation of the GAFP, the charitable arm of the organization. Dr. Shannon also is a past-president of the Georgia affiliate of the American Heart Association.

At the national level, Dr. Shannon has been an active member of the AAFP since 1976. He has been elected and re-elected to serve as a delegate to the AAFP Congress of Delegates and has served as chairman of the AAFP’s Commission on Continuing Professional Development.

Dr. Shannon has received outstanding service commendations from the U.S. Public Health Service, the GAFP, the Medical Association of Georgia, the Tennessee Medical Association, the American Heart Association and Columbus Hospice. He was named Georgia Family Physician of the Year in 1998 by the GAFP and the Medical Association of Georgia.

Dr. Shannon graduated magna cum laude from Saint Francis College in Loretto, Pa., with bachelor’s degrees in biology and chemistry. He earned his medical degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio, and completed his residency in internal medicine at University Hospitals in Cleveland. He was certified in the specialty of Family Medicine in 1976.

Dr. Shannon also has the AAFP Degree of Fellow, an earned degree awarded to family physicians for distinguished service and continuing medical education.