Dr. Alford, Dr. Wells Honored as Physicians of the Year 2018
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PUBLIC AWARENESS
t the MAFP Annual Meeting in July, Dr. Tim Alford of Kosciusko and Dr. Jeremy Wells of Hattiesburg were honored for their dedication to family medicine and for their years of service to the Academy. The MAFP Awards Committee, comprised of past Family Physician of the Year winners, selected the two honorees from nominations received from membership.
B. Howell Memorial Award, known as the Family Physician of the Year. He is a longtime family physician who worked in private practice for 31 years. Dr. Alford has been very involved in MAFP, having served as president in 200102, Foundation president for five years, and on the national level, representing Mississippi on the AAFP Congress of Delegates for the past 16 years. He was even selected as the AAFP’s official torch bearer Alford, Family Physician of the Year for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Dr. Tim Alford received the John Dr. Alford completed medical school at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and his family medicine residency in Columbus, Georgia, before returning to Mississippi to practice medicine. He served as a family physician with Premier Medical Management at Kosciusko Medical Clinic for almost 30 years before opening Kosy Direct Care, where he worked for two years. He Dr. Tim Alford, left, accepts the Family Physician of the Year award from Dr. Isaac presently works at Aultman, the previous year’s winner. Kosciusko’s Baptist Medical Center. But what really sets him apart as a natural selection for Family Physician of the Year is his commitment to his community. He is the founding and current chair of the Kosciusko Foundation for Excellence in Education. He served on the Kosciusko City School Board for ten years and At the Annual Meeting, Dr. Katie Patterson, right, presented Jeremy Wells with the is a former PTA New Physician of the Year award for 2018. president. Dr. Alford
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is the founding organizer of KosciuskoAttala Habitat for Humanity and the former baseball commissioner for Kosciusko Parks and Recreation. Alford and his wife, Mary Al, live in Kosciusko. Their three children are Timothy Alford (Mary Bruce), Leah Mabry Hendrix (Tal), and John Paul Alford (Jana). They have nine grandchildren. Wells, New Physician of the Year Dr. Jeremy Wells was honored with the New Physician of the Year award, given to a family physician who completed residency less than 7 years prior. This was the first year for the New Physician award, which was created by the Public Awareness committee in Fall 2017. Wells is a family physician specializing in sports medicine at Hattiesburg Clinic and serves as vice president of the MAFP Foundation. Since 2015, Dr. Wells has served as a sports medicine physician at Hattiesburg Clinic, where he is active in sports coverage and team physician duties. Dr. Wells completed medical school at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and stayed at UMMC for his 3-year family medicine residency. Following residency, he completed a 1-year fellowship in primary care sports medicine at UMMC. Dr. Wells distinguished himself from the earliest part of his career by his passion for medical student and resident education. The Family Medicine Department at the University of Mississippi Medical Center presented him with the Gary Jeffcoats Teaching Award for 2012-13 while he was a family medicine resident. Dr. Wells also served as chief resident his final year of residency. Continuing his love of teaching others, Dr. Wells serves on the clinical faculty of both William Care College of Osteopathic Medicine and the UMMC Family Medicine Department. Dr. Wells has been involved in the MAFP since his time as a medical student. He is credited with conceiving the Future in Want to nominate someone for MAFP award, visit www.msafp. org/awards.
