134 Leadership 2016–2017 LARRY W. ANDERSON, DO, FACOFP dist. Georgia With his induction in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in April 2016, Dr. Anderson became the first ACOFP president installed outside of the continental United States. This departure from the usual set the tone for his presidency. Dr. Anderson focused his year on three key areas: making ACOFP known beyond the osteopathic profession and the United States, encouraging students to choose osteopathic family medicine and ACOFP, and opening ACOFP membership to MDs. Holding the 2016 convention in Puerto Rico was a way to work on that first goal. The convention was both a success and a challenge. The world saw an outbreak of the Zika virus, especially in tropical areas. This led to numerous cancellations in conference registrations. Despite this, Dr. Anderson used the role of the ACOFP presidency to meet with many San Juan and Puerto Rican leaders to discuss how osteopathic family medicine and ACOFP could help answer some of the island’s biggest health challenges. Dr. Anderson led the charge to open ACOFP membership to MDs. He appointed a task force which evaluated the impact that such a move would have on ACOFP. The task force report was shared across ACOFP for input from all levels of membership. (For more information, see “ACOFP Welcomes Medical Doctors as Members,” in Chapter 4, page 81.) While it would take five more years of discussion and debate to finally amend the ACOFP Constitution and Bylaws to allow MDs as members, Dr. Anderson continued his zealous advocacy for this cause to the end. Like all ACOFP presidents, Dr. Anderson’s passion for the profession and ACOFP led him to many osteopathic medical school campuses. There he would meet with student leaders, deans, and anyone with an interest in osteopathic family medicine. Through his visits, he was able to open the eyes of many students who hadn’t previously considered family medicine. 2017–2018 RODNEY M. WISEMAN, DO, FACOFP dist. Texas If any group of ACOFP presidents needed real combat experience, it would be those presidents who served in the years between 2015 and 2020. That was the period of time when a single event would do more to change the face of osteopathic graduate medical education than the Flexner Report did 100 years before. That seminal event was the agreement to merge osteopathic and allopathic residency accreditation into a Single Accreditation System (SAS). That monumental event would be met with stiff opposition by many in the profession and sadly cause some to leave the profession altogether. Luckily, Dr. Wiseman was well prepared to enter the fray. Dr. Wiseman was a decorated veteran who had first entered medicine as a combat medic for the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam, earning the Bronze Star before becoming an osteopathic physician. He received his osteopathic training in Fort Worth at the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine. Following an internship, he was
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