ACOFP: OUR CONTINUING HISTORY 141 Leadership 2025–2026 GAUTAM J. DESAI, DO, FACOFP dist. Missouri Dr. Desai was born in a small village in India and later moved to Michigan. He received his bachelor of arts degree in psychology from Boston University and his DO degree from Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine. He completed an osteopathic family medicine residency at Riverside Osteopathic Hospital/Henry Ford and worked in private practice for a year with Kaiser Permanente. He then joined faculty at Kansas City University College of Osteopathic Medicine (KCUCOM), initially in the OMM department. Dr. Desai has worked there for more than two decades and is currently professor of family medicine, and chair, department of Primary Care. At KCUCOM, Dr. Desai developed and created the Global Medicine Honors Track, one of a few in the nation, and also directs the overall program in Global Medicine. He has led Global Health Outreach for more than two decades to a variety of countries, including Guatemala, Kenya, and the Dominican Republic. Thousands of osteopathic medical students had their first international medical experience during these trips, where they introduced osteopathic medicine and OMT to underserved regions. Other accomplishments of his included creating the communication skills program for second-year students as well as contributing to the medical community via clinical research trials. Dr. Desai has more than 50 peerreviewed publications in a variety of journals, textbooks, and posters. He has twice received first place in the AOA Bureau of International Osteopathic Medicine’s poster competition for his Global Track students’ projects. Dr. Desai has served the osteopathic profession in a variety of ways, including being active on committees for AOA, the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners, and other organizations. He served as president of DOCARE International, as chair of the AOA’s Council on CME, and also as a member for many years. He won the NBOME’s Case Writer of the Year for the COMLEX-PE that he worked on with the NBOME prior to and during its inception. He has given numerous workshops on OMT to allopathic and osteopathic audiences and has lectured to audiences in Kenya, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, China, and South Korea. Dr. Desai will be the first Indian American president of ACOFP.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjI2NjI=