Family Practitioner Awarded Family Physician of the Year

Family medicine has always been at the heart of medicine. If you ask a patient they willl usually say 'Our family doctor is .....  It bespeaks much of the complexity of credentials, board certification and the rest of it. Most patients are not that aware of what all those diplomas are on the wall. And with  the general training all young physicians obtain, and are licensed as MDs in all states, not as a specialist most MDs are capable of handling routine complaints and treat simple disorders. If they can't then they should not be practicing medicine (in my opinion)

My perspective may be a bit skewed by the fact that I did general medicine after internship in t he Navy and practiced family medicine for three years afterward.  When I had a major heart surgery, I relinquished my scalpel for several years, returning to family medicine with a colleage who  used to refer to me.

This announcement caught my eye and is well worth recognition.
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At just 11 years old, Karen Smith, M.D., went on the trip of a lifetime.

Smith's mother wanted to visit Walt Disney World with her children. In 1972, the family made the trip to Orlando, Fla., and it's where a young Smith learned the power of imagination, belief and creativity. Walt Disney's famous saying, "If you can dream it, you can do it," resonated with her.

Smith's mother died from sarcoidosis not long after the trip, but the memories they created inspired her daughter to pursue a career of medical service.

"It's amazing what a mother can instill in her children," Smith told AAFP News. "Those memories are in us, and those memories are what have allowed me to do what I've done … with the grace of God."

For her efforts, Smith has been named the Academy's 2017 Family Physician of the Year. The award recognizes a family physician who stands out among his or her colleagues for providing compassionate and comprehensive care, enhancing the quality of the community, and acting as a credible role model. Today, 43 years after her first trip to Orlando, Smith has returned to the city to accept this award during the AAFP Family Medicine Experience.

Another example of the unsung, underpaid, overwhelmed primary care internists, pediatricians and family medicine physicians...In today's world primary care providers take a residency as long as most other specialtlies.  

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Karen Smith, M.D., of Raeford, N.C., has been named the 2017 Family Physician of the Year.
• The award recognizes a family physician who stands out among his or her colleagues for providing compassionate and comprehensive care, enhancing the quality of the community, and acting as a credible role model. 
• After more than two decades in rural practice, Smith says she still is driven by the power of touch -- physical, emotional and spiritual.

Compassion, Imagination and Belief Inspired 2017 FPOY