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GME Award winner is making plans—and time—to lead
Oct. 24, 2025, David Mitchell—Ask family medicine residents why they are excited about the specialty, and many will tell you it’s the combination of continuity of care and broad scope of practice.
Del Carter, MD, has another vision.
The third-year resident from Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare already has signed a contract to work as a hospitalist in Florida after he completes his training next year.
“I was open to everything family medicine offered,” said Carter, one of a dozen residents recognized with the AAFP’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Medical Education during the recent Family Medicine Experience in Anaheim, Calif. “As residency went on, I found I was most excited when I was going to the hospital, night shift specifically. We’re seeing patients at their sickest point when they’re being admitted from the ER. You’re setting the tone for their admission and determining what is going on with this patient. It’s intense and requires a lot of critical thinking. I really enjoy that. I’m a night owl, so that works out in my favor.”
A hospital is where Carter’s interest in medicine began. During the summer between his junior and senior years in high school, Carter spent weeks in an Indiana hospital, often staying the night, while his grandmother was dying from heart failure.
Carter already was planning to be the first person in his family to go to college, but he didn’t yet know his path forward.
The physicians caring for his grandmother “got the wheels turning.”
“Their soft skills were what really stuck out,” he said. “They were practicing medicine at a high level, but they were also compassionate and caring. How people make you feel is what you remember more than the details.”
Carter’s high school in Bloomfield, Indiana, offered a dual enrollment program, and by the time he graduated he was already close to completing a minor in French and had a significant number of other college credits.
At the University of Florida, he completed the French minor as well as others in chemistry and zoology. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science, but his next destination was always going to be medical school.
“I had an advisor tell me I could major in whatever I wanted,” he said. “I always had a passion for politics, and I decided I was going to do what I liked.”
We streamlined the AAFP awards process
A new application process makes it easier to nominate yourself or a colleague for AAFP awards and recognitions. Applications for the Award for Excellence in Graduate Medical Education open in early 2026. Other recognitions are open for nomination now.
Carter’s interest in politics has merged with his passion for advocacy. He has served as a student and resident member of the Florida AFP’s Board of Directors, and he also serves on the chapter’s government relations committee.
Winners of the AAFP Award for Excellence in Graduate Medical Education are recognized on stage at FMX 2025 with Academy President Sarah Nosal, MD, FAAFP, and EVP/CEO Shawn Martin.
"They’ve given me a lot of experience advocating for patients,” said Carter, who attended the AAFP’s Family Medicine Advocacy Summit in 2023 and 2025. “One of my biggest passions in medicine is health advocacy and policy. The biggest thing I’ve realized is legislators come from all walks of life, so many of them don’t have the experience or know-how we have as physicians. There’s a lot of education we can do. We need more physicians involved in advocacy. Our vantage point is one not many legislators have.”
Carter also serves on the Florida Medical Association’s Council on Legislation and on the board of its political action committee.
“I see myself continuing to do everything I can on this front,” he said.
When Carter starts his hospitalist role next year, he expects to have a “seven-on-seven-off” schedule that will allow him to devote time to his advocacy efforts. That flexible schedule also will help him fulfill his obligation as a captain into the U.S. Army Reserve Medical Corps.
“I’ll be leading others,” he said.” I think my military career to come will make me a better civilian leader.”
As a resident leader, Carter and his fellow GME award winners received $2,500 scholarships as well as hotel accommodations, airfare and registration for the Family Medicine Experience earlier this month in Anaheim. Early registration is open now for next year’s FMX, which will be held Oct. 20-24, 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee.
“The CME is great,” Carter said. “I’ve enjoyed it. Meeting new people and seeing familiar faces—other Florida residents, people from the Florida chapters, mentors—it’s been a great experience.”