Members of the Georgia Academy of Family Physicians (GAFP) are making headlines. Read below to see what some of our outstanding members are doing. Congratulations to all of these deserving individuals.
Columbus Family Medicine Resident Receives AAFP Award for Excellence in Graduate Medical Education
Samuel Nwaobi, M.D. of Columbus (PGY-3) was honored at the 2022 AAFP FMX for his Excellence in Graduate Medical Education. His performance during residency training ranks among the top family medicine residents.
As an award recipient he received a scholarship to attend the 2022 FMX.
AMWA Announces 2022 INSPIRE Award Winners
American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2022 AMWA INSPIRE Award, which recognizes accomplished women physicians who exemplify the highest values in vision, integrity, service, and collaboration in medicine.
GAFP member, Suzanne H. Lester, M.D., MS, FAAFP,Director, Community and Population Health, Augusta Univ. /Univ. of Georgia Medical Partnership is one of the women recognized this year by AMWA.
The AMWA INSPIRE Award, established by the AMWA Leadership Council, honors women physicians who inspire others because of their dedication to health care, compassion for patients, leadership, advocacy efforts, or community service.
“The 2022 Honorees are exceptional women physicians who work in private practice, academia, or as hospitalists,” says Dr. Connie Newman, past president of AMWA and founding member of the AMWA Leadership Council. “We give this award during Women in Medicine month to highlight the many contributions of women physicians to medical care, medical education and research.”
GAFP Medical Student Member Elected Vice President of LMSA
Roxana Lazo Gonzalez, of Acworth, medical student at Mercer University School of Medicine-Columbus, has been elected as the National Vice President of Programming for the Latino Medical Student Association. Ms. Gonzalez will welcome hundreds of Latino medical students to Atlanta for their September 2023 convention.
GAFP Member Awarded MAG’s Lamartine Hardman Cup
Monica Newton, D.O., is the recipient of the Medical Association of Georgia’s Lamartine Hardman Cup for 2022. The award is presented to a physician who solves a problem in public health or makes a discovery in surgery or medicine or the science of medicine.
Dr. Newton is an accomplished physician, educator, and community leader. While in family medicine residency at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, she obtained a Master of Public Health in International Health with an emphasis in Project Planning. This has served her very well over the years, leading many successful projects. From founding a family medicine residency program in Northeast Georgia, to initiating a now 20-year-old mobile rural free clinic called “Doc on the Spot,” her career has made a lasting impact.
She has served in many leadership roles and has practiced the full scope of family medicine from obstetrics to ICU medicine to
end-of-life care. Her leadership style has empowered her to serve in many state and national roles, including a role on the AAFP national commission on education, a role on the board of directors of the Georgia Academy of Family Physicians – including leadership positions on the Political Action Committee Board, the Congress of Delegates and the Georgia Healthy Family Alliance. Her conversational style of teaching engages the audience and earned her the GAFP educator of the year for 2021.
GAFP Member Awarded MAG’s Physician’s Award for Community Service
Samuel Le Church, M.D., is the recipient of the Medical Association of Georgia’s Physician’s Award for Community Service for 2022. This award recognizes a physician who demonstrates a love for the community outside the regular scope of practice.
Dr. Church has been an elite physician throughout his career – advancing health care in his community, and throughout Georgia, as well as continuing his passion of educating other clinicians. He has devoted countless hours to precepting medical students and residents. He recently added a specialty in educating other physicians on coding with a focus on implementing chronic care management in primary care physician offices, to his lengthy list of teaching expertise.
He was one of the first physicians in Georgia to pursue and receive the highest level of recognition by NCQA as a patient centered medical home. He led one of the first mass vaccination sites for Covid-19 and encouraged other physicians to become vaccinators during the height of the pandemic when supplies, workforce, and vaccines were all in short supply.
Dr. Church was recently appointed to serve on the AMA CPT/RUC Advisory Committee to CMS and also is launching a “how to code” program to Georgia-based residency programs to better equip residents in their care for patients⎼especially patients with multiple chronic illnesses.
Georgia Trends Top Docs in Family Medicine
Jack Cheng, M.D. – Buford
Sarah Choo-Yick, M.D. – Macon
Jignesh Dholaria, M.D. – Alpharetta
Angela Evans, D.O. – Stockbridge
James Hornsby, M.D. – Marietta
Monica Newton, D.O. – Gainesville
Tanya Pandya, D.O. – Alpharetta
Mitzi Rubin, M.D. – Roswell
Jiyo Shin, M.D. – Smyrna
Nandini Sunkinreddy, M.D. – Alpharetta
Davon Thomas, M.D. – Atlanta
GAFP Member, Dr. Lisa Herbert of Conyers, Keynote at AAFP’s FMX on Developing a Leadership Mindset for Improved Outcomes and Reduced Burnout
