American Board of Family Medicine Elects New Officers and Board Members

doi:10.1370/afm.604

The American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) is pleased to announce the election of 4 new officers and 3 new board members. The new officers elected at the ABFM’s spring board meeting in April 2006 are: Karen B. Mitchell, MD, of Rochester, Mich, elected as Chair; David W. Price, MD, of Broomfield, Colo, as Chair Elect; Richard D. Clover, MD, of Louisville, Ky, as Treasurer; and Joseph Hobbs, MD, of Augusta, Ga, as Member-at-Large, Executive Committee. In addition, the ABFM welcomes this year’s new members to the Board of Directors: Thomas P. Gessner, MD, of Latrobe, Penn; John R. Bucholtz, DO, of Columbus, Ga; and Craig W. Czarsty, MD, of Waterbury, Conn.

The new ABFM officers will each serve a 1-year term:

Karen B. Mitchell, MD, Chair, has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2002. She is Associate Residency Director of the Providence Family Practice Residency Program in Southfield, Mich. She states, “My passion in family medicine is ensuring quality of care and improving the health of all people. My involvement in teaching is a very conscious choice for me, because it is a way in which I can help uphold the standards of competence in family medicine and motivate our physicians to continue their own quality improvement.” Dr. Mitchell will serve as an ex-officio member of all ABFM Committees.

David W. Price, MD, Chair Elect, has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2003. He is Director of Physician Education for Kaiser Permanente of Colorado, and holds national guideline and education positions with the Kaiser Permanente Care Management Institute in Oakland, Calif. An Associate Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Dr. Price was awarded the Colorado Family Practice Teacher of the Year Award in 1991. He will serve as a member of the Executive Committee, the Information and Technology Committee, the Communications/Publications Committee, the Audit/Finance Committee, and as Chair of the Research and Development Committee.

Richard D. Clover, MD, Treasurer, has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2002. He is the Acting Dean of the School of Public Health/Health Information Sciences and the Associate Vice President for Health Affairs/Health Informatics at the University of Louisville; William Ray Moore Endowed Chair in Humanism, University of Louisville Department of Family and Community Medicine; and Director of the Center for the Deterrence of Biowarfare and Bioterrorism at the University of Louisville, Louisville, Ky. He will serve on the Executive Committee, the Examination Committee, the Research and Development Committee, and as the Chair of the Information and Technology Committee and the Audit/Finance Committee.

Joseph Hobbs, MD, Member-At-Large, Executive Committee, has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2003. He is affiliated with the Medical College of Georgia where he is Professor in the Department of Family Medicine, Vice-Dean for Primary Care and Community Affairs, and Georgia Academy of Family Practice’s Joseph W. Tollison, MD, Distinguished Chair. Dr. Hobbs will serve on the Executive Committee, the Bylaws Committee, the Credentials Committee, the Audit/Finance Committee, and as Chair of the Examination Committee.

The following new Board members will each serve a 5-year term:

Thomas P. Gessner, MD, is currently a staff pediatrician at Latrobe Area Hospital, where he also served as the Medical Director for 10 years. A faculty member for Latrobe’s Family Medicine Residency Program, he is Senior Physician Adviser for Excela Health, of which Latrobe Hospital is a part. In addition, he serves as adjunct staff at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and as a Clinical Assistant Professor in Family Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Medical School in Philadelphia. He has been a member of the Board of Directors of the American Board of Pediatrics since 2003. Dr. Gessner will serve on the Bylaws Committee and the Information and Technology Committee.

John R. Bucholtz, DO, is the Director of Medical Education at The Medical Center in Columbus, Ga and has been the Program Director of the Family Medicine Residency Program since 1993. He also continues to practice full service Family Medicine. Currently Dr. Bucholtz is one of Georgia’s 2 delegates to the AAFP Congress of Delegates and serves on the AAFP Commission on Education, chairing the subcommittee on graduate education. Dr. Bucholtz is a past-president of the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors. He is also certified by the American Board of Osteopathic Family Physicians. Dr. Bucholtz will serve on the Examination Committee, the Credentials Committee, and the Research and Development Committee.

Craig W. Czarsty, MD, has been practicing family medicine in Connecticut since 1983. On the medical staffs of both Waterbury and St. Mary’s Hospitals, he is the medical director of a local nursing home. Other community roles include serving as the Medical Advisor for the Town of Watertown’s Board of Education as well as Department Surgeon for the Town’s Police and Fire Departments. Dr Czarsty has been very involved at the national level in both the production and accreditation of continuing medical education. He has participated in 2 recent medical relief trips to the Dominican Republic. Dr. Czarsty will serve on the Examination Committee and the Communications/Publications Committee.

The remaining current members of the Board are: Ross R. Black, II, MD, of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio; Elizabeth Ann Garrett, MD, of Columbia, Mo; Larry A. Green, MD, of Aurora, Colo; Alain J. Montegut, MD, of Portland, Me; Dennis R. Schaberg, MD, of Memphis, Tenn; Russell R. Snyder, MD, of Galveston, Tex; Jon S. Thompson, MD, of Omaha, Ne; and Daniel K. Winstead, MD, of New Orleans, La. The ABFM Board of Directors looks forward to working with the new members as it continues the implementation and enhancement of the Maintenance of Certification for Family Physicians (MC-FP) and the important task of sustaining the mission of the ABFM.