John Cullen, MD, FAAFP, Assumes Role of President of the American Academy of Family Physicians

NEW ORLEANS, Oct. 10, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- John S. Cullen, MD, FAAFP, a family physician in Valdez, Alaska, today assumes the role of president of the American Academy of Family Physicians. The AAFP represents 131,400 physicians and medical students nationwide. As AAFP president, Cullen advocates on behalf of family physicians and patients nationwide to inspire positive change in the U.S. health care system.

Cullen has practiced the full scope of family medicine in a rural community of 4,000 people in Alaska for the past 25 years. Cullen works in a small group practice and is director of emergency medical services at Providence Valdez Medical Center.

He has been actively involved in residency and medical student teaching for more than 20 years, providing comprehensive training in rural health care. He is an associate clinical professor at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College.

From 2007 to 2013, Cullen served on the Alaska State Medical Board. During this time, he also served on the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. He has visited several states to evaluate their rural health care systems and critical access hospitals.

A member of the AAFP since 1994, Cullen has served on numerous commissions and committees, including the Committee on Awards, the Commission on Government and Advocacy, the Commission on Chapter Affairs and the Commission on Member Services. Cullen has also served on the AAFP's Working Group on Rural Health and the AAFP's task force on emergency medicine. He is the co-author of the AAFP's position paper on emergency medicine, and he has served as both delegate and alternate delegate to the AAFP Congress of Delegates since 1996.

At the state level, Cullen is an active member of the Alaska Academy of Family Physicians. He has held numerous leadership positions, including president and president-elect.

Throughout his career, Cullen has received several awards. In 2010, he was a finalist for the AAFP's Family Physician of the Year award. He received the Alaska AFP's Family Physician of the Year award in 2008.

Cullen earned his Bachelor of Science degree in molecular and cell biology from the University of California, San Diego. He earned his medical degree from the University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson. Cullen completed his residency at the Stanislaus Family Medicine Residency Program in Modesto, California, in 1994. Cullen is board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine and has the AAFP Degree of Fellow, an earned degree awarded to family physicians for distinguished service and continuing medical education.

About the American Academy of Family Physicians

Founded in 1947, the AAFP represents 131,400 physicians and medical students nationwide. It is the only medical society devoted solely to primary care.

Family physicians conduct approximately one in five office visits?that's 192 million visits annually or 48 percent more than to the next most visited medical specialty. Today, family physicians provide more care for America's underserved and rural populations than any other medical specialty. Family medicine's cornerstone is an ongoing, personal patient-physician relationship focused on integrated care.

To learn more about the specialty of family medicine, the AAFP's positions on issues and clinical care, and for downloadable multi-media highlighting family medicine, visit www.aafp.org/media. For information about health care, health conditions and wellness, please visit the AAFP's award-winning consumer website, www.familydoctor.org.

SOURCE American Academy of Family Physicians