Residency director works to expand workforce and access to care
Dec. 19, 2025, David Mitchell—Nathan Falk, MD, MBA, CPE, FAAFP, spent a year in dental school before realizing it was the wrong fit for him.
“I liked talking to patients … and hearing them talk back,” he said.
He enrolled in the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Medicine, where his wife, Ashley Falk MD, FAAFP, was beginning her family medicine residency. Falk entered medical school with an interest in emergency medicine, but then he met the family medicine faculty and residents his wife was working with.
Family medicine fosters doctor-patient relationships
“I liked the family physicians,” he said. “I thought, ‘These are my people. They’re fun to be around because they’re compassionate and really, truly care about people.'”
In family medicine, he made the connections that he found lacking in dentistry and other specialties.
“I like being someone’s personal physician and having that relationship, guiding them with health choices and helping them meet their individual goals,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s about relationships and continuity. I missed that when I was on other rotations.”
Falk, who taught high school science between college and medical school, found his love of teaching also applied to medicine. After graduating from the combined University of Nebraska Medical Center and Offutt Air Force Base Family Medicine Residency, Falk did a mini fellowship in faculty development and a sports medicine fellowship at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. He then spent four years as an assistant professor for Uniformed Services while also serving as director of primary care sports medicine for Offutt Air Force Base.
After his military service ended in 2015, Falk moved to Florida and spent a year in private practice. Like dentistry, it wasn’t for him.
Opening a new family medicine residency
“I missed teaching and interacting with learners,” said Falk, who took a job as medical director and associate program director for the AdventHealth Winter Park Family Medicine Residency.
Those jobs led to something bigger two years later when Florida State University announced it would open a new family medicine residency in Winter Haven.
“I was employee zero,” said Falk, who, as founding program director, recruited faculty, residents and helped plan a new, full-spectrum family medicine clinic.
The clinic opened in 2019, and the residency welcomed its first residents in 2020.
Expanding access to health care
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.
Before the clinic opened, Polk County had about 48 primary care physicians per 100,000 people, far below the national average of 67 per 100,000. Roughly 80% of the program’s graduates have remained in Polk County to practice.
The program started with six residents per class but has since expanded to eight per year.
“To get physicians to practice in an area, one of the biggest factors is where you train them,” Falk said. "We’re developing physicians here with hopes that they stay. That was one of our big missions because we’re in an underserved county.”
Falk is also working to bolster the state’s primary care workforce in his role as secretary and treasurer of the Florida AFP.
“It’s been fun to look at the things impacting family medicine and help our specialty during a difficult time in the country and in Florida,” he said.
Falk said the chapter’s efforts include a residency collaborative aimed to help with faculty development, residency recruiting and keeping students and residents in the Sunshine State.
“We’re trying to improve access to family medicine in the state,” he said.
In addition to his role as program director, Falk is a professor of family medicine and assistant dean for graduate medical education at Florida State. He also is a regional site director for the new Orlando College of Osteopathic Medicine, coordinating faculty and ensuring collaboration in undergraduate and graduate medical education between OCOM, Florida State and BayCare Health.
CME on demand and in person
Falk is also busy educating his peers through a variety of AAFP CME events. His name may be familiar to Family Medicine Experience attendees. He’s been faculty for the AAFP’s signature event since 2018. This fall in Anaheim, California, Falk presented three sessions that are available in FMX On Demand related to chronic asthma management, chronic shoulder pain and osteoarthritis.
“It’s fun to help people stay up to date on the latest advances and to help people add tools to their toolbox,” said Falk, whose patient panel is roughly two-thirds sports medicine and one-third primary care. “I know how busy people are, so I want to provide high-yield learning opportunities they can apply to their practices.”
Registration is open now for FMX 2026, Oct. 20-24 in Nashville, Tennessee.
“I know a lot of the other speakers,” he said. "It’s fun to watch the younger speakers develop and grow in their craft.”