ROLAND A. GOERTZ, M.D., CHOSEN PRESIDENT-ELECT OF AMERICAN ACADEMY FAMILY PHYSICIANS. - States News Service

LEAWOOD, KS -- The following information was released by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP):

Roland A. Goertz, M.D., MBA, FAAFP, a family physician in Waco, Texas, has been chosen president-elect of the American Academy of Family Physicians. Previously, he served three years as a member of the AAFP Board of Directors. The AAFP represents more than 94,600 physicians and medical students nationwide. Goertz was elected to the position by the Congress of Delegates, the AAFP's governing body, during the organization's annual meeting here.

As president-elect of the AAFP, Goertz will advocate on behalf of family physicians and patients nationwide to inspire positive change in the U.S. health care system. Additionally, in his 25-year medical career, he has served as a physician in rural private practice, a family medicine residency program director at two highly regarded Texas residencies, and chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston.

For the past 12 years, Goertz has served as chief executive officer of the three foundations that oversee all operations of the Waco Family Practice Center, which operates one of the oldest family medicine residency programs west of the Mississippi River. It provides care to more than 47,000 patients in McLennan County, Texas. Goertz also holds an appointment as associate clinical professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas.

A member of the AAFP and the Texas Academy of Family Physicians since 1979, Goertz has served on numerous committees and commissions at the state and national level. He actively participated in and chaired the AAFP Commission on Education and Commission on Governmental Advocacy. He was a member of the AAFP Task Force to Enhance Family Medicine Research. Goertz served as president of the TAFP from 1994 to 1995, and he served as a delegate or alternate delegate to the AAFP Congress of Delegates from 2000 to 2006.

Goertz is board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine and has the AAFP Degree of Fellow, an earned degree awarded to family physicians for distinguished service and continuing medical education.

Goertz is past president of the McLennan County Medical Society. He chairs the Texas higher education coordinating board's advisory committee on family medicine residencies and is a past president of the Texas Association of Community Health Centers. Goertz represented family medicine on the Council of Academic Societies of the Association of American Medical Colleges from 2000 to 2006. He also served as a member and chair of the Texas Medical Association's committee on physician workforce and distribution, and was a member of its council on medical education.

Locally, Goertz serves on the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce board and executive committee, and the Waco Business League. He is a member of the Waco Rotary Club and serves on the board of the Cooper Foundation, a local philanthropic organization.

Both the AAFP and the TAFP have recognized Goertz for his hard work and long-term dedication. The TAFP awarded him its Presidential Award of Merit in 1989. In 2003, he won the organization's Political Action Committee Award, and in 2004 he won its Philanthropist of the Year award. He also was awarded the AAFP's 2006 Robert Graham Family Physician Executive Award.

Goertz graduated from medical school at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio in 1981. He then completed a residency in family medicine at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas. He subsequently completed a clinical teaching fellowship in family medicine in 1986 and received a master's degree in business administration from Baylor University in 2003.

Goertz is board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine and has the AAFP Degree of Fellow, an earned degree awarded to family physicians for distinguished service and continuing medical education.

Goertz is past president of the McLennan County Medical Society. He chairs the Texas higher education coordinating board's advisory committee on family medicine residencies and is a past president of the Texas Association of Community Health Centers. Goertz represented family medicine on the Council of Academic Societies of the Association of American Medical Colleges from 2000 to 2006. He also served as a member and chair of the Texas Medical Association's committee on physician workforce and distribution, and was a member of its council on medical education.

Locally, Goertz serves on the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce board and executive committee, and the Waco Business League. He is a member of the Waco Rotary Club and serves on the board of the Cooper Foundation, a local philanthropic organization.

Both the AAFP and the TAFP have recognized Goertz for his hard work and long-term dedication. The TAFP awarded him its Presidential Award of Merit in 1989. In 2003, he won the organization's Political Action Committee Award, and in 2004 he won its Philanthropist of the Year award. He also was awarded the AAFP's 2006 Robert Graham Family Physician Executive Award.

Goertz graduated from medical school at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio in 1981. He then completed a residency in family medicine at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas. He subsequently completed a clinical teaching fellowship in family medicine in 1986 and received a master's degree in business administration from Baylor University in 2003.

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Founded in 1947, the AAFP represents more than 94,600 physicians and medical students nationwide. It is the only medical society devoted solely to primary care.

Nearly one in four of all office visits are made to family physicians. That is 208 million office visits each year - nearly 83 million more than the next largest medical specialty. Today, family physicians provide more care for America's underserved and rural populations than any other medical specialty.

In the increasingly fragmented world of health care where many medical specialties limit their practice to a particular organ, disease, age or sex, family physicians are dedicated to treating the whole person across the full spectrum of ages. Family medicine's cornerstone is an ongoing, personal patient-physician relationship focused on integrated care.

To learn more about the American Academy of Family Physicians and about the specialty of family medicine, please visit aafp.org.

For more information about the AAFP's positions on issues and clinical care and downloadable multi-media on family medicine and health care, visit the AAFP Media Center.

For more information about health care, health conditions, and wellness, please visit familydoctor.org.