Advocacy for Family Medicine is Dr. David Wheat's #1 Priority

Dr. David B. Wheat of Clinton accepted the gavel of MAFP leadership July 24 at the Annual Dinner, succeeding Dr. Katie Patterson of Indianola. He will lead the MAFP in the coming year and chair the Board of Directors.

Dr. Wheat, a family physician who has earned the AAFP Fellow distinction, owns and operates Clinton Family Care in Clinton. Dr. Wheat began service on the Board of Directors in 2014 and 2015 as the District 4 representative. He was then elected secretary in 2016 and served as president-elect in 2017.

Dr. Wheat and his wife, Sherry, have been married 40 years. They have two children and one grandson. The Wheats live in Clinton.

A native of Stuttgart, Arkansas, Dr. Wheat graduated from Stuttgart High School.

Wheat recalls becoming familiar with family medicine as a young boy. “I was delivered by a family physician, Dr. Fred Stone,” Dr. Wheat said. “He made house calls when I was sick or broke my ankle. I played with his kids and went to church with his family. I was cared for throughout my life by Dr. Stone. You notice I didn’t say treated -- I was taken care of by Dr. Stone. I looked up to Dr. Stone and he obviously had a significant influence in my life.”

After receiving a bachelor’s degree at Arkansas Tech University in Russelville, Dr. Wheat earned his master’s degree in physiology from Mississippi State University. He was then accepted at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

“After I was accepted to medical school,

and came back home for a weekend, Dr. Stone wanted me to come by and see him,” Dr. Wheat explained. “I went to his office and we visited over coffee. He congratulated me on medical school, then told me that he wasn’t going to tell me how to study for gross anatomy or histology. He encouraged me to become involved in the political arena because people who are not physicians were making decisions that were going to affect medicine, our patients and how we practiced in our clinics. Those same words were true back in the mid 70’s and are still true today. Those words have stuck with me for years.”

As a medical student at UMMC, Dr. Wheat served as president of the Family Practice Club and became involved in AAFP, attending the AAFP National Conference for Residents and Students. Dr. Wheat

completed his residency at Anniston Family Practice in Birmingham, Alabama, before practicing in Mississippi and Alabama for several years.

Wheat has practiced in Clinton since 1997, first at Methodist Family Practice, then at MEA Medical Clinic, before hanging out his own shingle in private practice at Clinton Family Care in 2001.

Dr. Wheat has articulated advocacy as his number one priority for his year as president, and he said being unified behind the Academy is of utmost importance. “We need our Academy to be a strong voice for family physicians,” Dr. Wheat reiterated. “No one is going to protect our specialty more than our state Academy. No one speaks more for us than our Academy.”

ADVOCACY IMPORTANCE

WHEAT’S BACKGROUND