The Missouri Academy of Family Physicians blog posts have been focused on our members’ experiences on many issues of our patients.  I use the word “our” because as your executive director, I feel as though what our Academy does for you, we do for your patients, and then they become “our” patients.  This is my first blog post, ever!  So, I’m hoping what I share with you will give you a little reflection on why we do what we do.

When I had the opportunity to join the MAFP family, I had a very peripheral perspective of a family physician.  Memories of my mom taking me to my family physicians, Dr. Richard Watson and Dr. William Voss, were for my annual checkups, immunizations, sore throats, or whatever was ailing me.  I knew they would make me feel better.  As an adult though, my family physician retired, then another moved away from Jefferson City, which, because of my role as your executive director, I view as a reflection of the workforce issues facing the profession.

Thanksgiving is next week and we often find ourselves reflecting on what we are thankful for…our families, our jobs, our lives, our friends…turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, all the fixings, and the list goes on.  One thing that we, at the MAFP get to experience annually, is why your patients are thankful for you.  The Family Physician of the Year award began in 1991 and James Campbell, MD, Macon, was the first recipient.  Shortly after this first award, the MAFP commissioned an original painting by Missouri artist, James Burkhart, called “Country Doctor.”  This painting hangs proudly in the MAFP office in Jefferson City.  Each Family Physician of the Year recipient receives a framed, signed lithograph as their award that is presented during the MAFP annual meeting.

As I look back on the many nominations submitted over the years for the outstanding family physicians in Missouri, I would like to focus on Dr. Campbell’s nomination as the first family physician to receive this prestigious award.  Nineteen nominations were received that year.  A colleague wrote that “Dr. Campbell could be the man of any year,” because he possessed the kind of selflessness that is very rare.  A patient thought that he gave “a personal sacrifice in dedication to his profession and his patients.”  To this, we say thank you!

When I began working at the MAFP in 2014, it was during the time that the Family Physician of the Year nominations had already been received and were being judged to select a winner.  I was not only learning about the process to select a winner, but also how dedicated the MAFP members are to their profession.  David Pulliam, DO, from Higginsville, was selected as the recipient that year.  Marla Tobin, MD (MAFP President 1993-94) nominated Dr. Pulliam because he “understood the rural lifestyle and what it meant to be a family doctor to all ages.”  Whether Dr. Pulliam was caring for a 101-year-old mother, comforting a family who recently lost a loved one, or wishing a patient well who is serving overseas in the military, he was not only his patients’ family physician, but also their friend.  One patient shared that “He listens.  He’s always got time for you.  He never gets in too big a hurry.  He’s patient.”  Thank you, Dr. Pulliam.

We are fortunate that there have been so many nominations received since 1991 – Missouri has great family physicians!  There have been 21 Missouri Family Physician of the Year awards.  Although I cannot recognize all of these distinguished family physicians in this blog, they all deserve the recognition, but most of all thanks!  You can view this list of winners on the MAFP website by clicking here.

As you can see, the message resonates among the nominations…caring, selfless, and dedicated.  Thanksgiving began to celebrate the first harvest between two cultures.  As we celebrate Thanksgiving with our families, our many cultures come together to recognize all that is good.  And we, and your patients, are celebrating you – our family physicians.  I would also like to take this opportunity to give a shout-out and thank my family physician, Joanna Younker, DO, in Jefferson City.

Lastly, now is the time to nominate the 2019 Family Physician of the Year.  For eligibility criteria and nomination form, click here.  The deadline to submit nominations is February 4, 2019.

Kathy Pabst, MBA, CAE
Executive Director
Missouri Academy of Family Physicians

About the Author

By: Kathy Pabst, MBA, CAE, MAFP Executive Director