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John Wheat Receives National Recognition as 2007 Distinguished Educator
John R. Wheat, MD, MPH, of Northport, Professor of Community and Rural Medicine at UA's College of Community Health Sciences and the University of Alabama of Alabama School of Medicine, Tuscaloosa, receives the Distinguished Educator Award this week from the National Rural Health Association. He was nominated for this singular national honor by Randall Longenecker, MD, Associate Director of Rural Programs and Assistant Dean for Rural Medical Education at Ohio State University College of Medicine.
In support of the nomination, Governor Bob Riley said in his letter of recommendation: “Dr. Wheat is a well-known and respected leader in our state in rural medical education – particularly regarding the need to recruit rural students into medical and health careers and to support them through their professional training. Over the last two and a half years, Dr. Wheat has served as Co-Chair on the Health Committee of the Governor’s Black Belt Action Commission. Dr. Wheat’s leadership and expertise have helped the Commission to make a real difference in the lives of citizens in Alabama’s Black Belt. From grassroots initiatives to health policy issues, Dr. Wheat is a true leader in our state and is a great spokesman for all rural citizens.
His Rural Scholars Program at The University of Alabama is a proven program that is developing more physicians from rural Alabama and helping them to begin practices in rural, underserved areas. This “pipeline” to recruit and nurture rural students is a model that is being replicated in our state and one which other states can look to as we all seek to improve quality of health care in underserved communities.”
In his letter of support for Dr. Wheat’s nomination, Congressman Artur Davis said, “I wholeheartedly believe that without such a program that nurtures young minds of rural youth to pursue health careers, our rural communities would have little chance of closing the health disparity gap that exists between rural and urban areas of our state.
The Executive Vice President of the Alabama Academy of Family Physicians, Holley Midgley, citing the critical need for rural primary care doctors in the state, adds that, “no single individual in the modern era has done more to address the shortage of primary care physicians in Alabama than Dr. Wheat. Alabama will continue to receive the dividends from his work for many decades.”
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