King Relishes New Role in Leading AAFP to Change

Incoming AAFP President Jim King, M.D., of Selmer, Tenn., stood before his friends, family and AAFP colleagues during his president's address on Oct. 3 and told them that the Academy was poised to ascend to a whole new level.

"I look forward to working with the Board as the Academy begins to take bold steps toward change for our patients and our specialty," said King. "They have set a course I endorse and am eager to begin."

King reminisced about family physicians who have made a difference in his life, including his father, Darrel King, M.D. He recalled one particularly stormy night in his father's Henderson, Tenn., clinic when he and his mother were called to the clinic to hold a flashlight after a blackout so his father could deliver the third baby of the evening. Three newborns slumbered in the clinic that night -- two in bassinets and the third tucked into a dresser drawer.

"My daddy taught me that family doctors just simply get the job done," said King, relating the lesson he learned that night.

King also credited his father with showing him that family medicine is about the doctor/patient relationship, a lesson learned when he saw his father forgive a debt for a patient who -- after 18 years -- could finally pay his bill.

My father taught me that family physicians have a responsibility to their patients," said King.

He learned from other physician mentors, too, who taught him that family physicians have a responsibility not only to their specialty, but to the up-and-coming family medicine leaders of the future. He recalled with fondness the hometown family physician who got him involved in the AAFP, volunteered him for the right committees and helped him become a leader.

King said his mentors taught him that family physicians need to take the time to really know their patients, and he learned that doing so made him a better physician.

"As a family physician, I have a responsibility to my patients, my community and my specialty. I take those responsibilities seriously. And the greatest honor I know is to be called 'my doctor' by my patients," said King.

He pledged to deliver respect, relief and representation to family physicians during his tenure. He promised that with the support and enthusiasm of his AAFP colleagues, family medicine would become stronger and more vital during the next year.

"The Academy is headed in a new direction," said King. "As we enter the next chapter in our history, we are renewing our commitment to you. We're responding to your call for more advocacy, more representation and more action.

"We've heard you," said King, and "things are about to get much more exciting."