Kirksville D.O. named Family Physician of the Year

Posted: 03.15.2010 at 6:55 PM

KIRKSVILLE, MISSOURI -- Physician, teacher, and ATSU-KCOM alumnus John C. Collins, D.O., is Family Physician of the Year according to the Missouri Society of the American College of Family Physicians (MSACOFP).

Immediate past president of the society and a Missouri delegate for the national ACOFP, Dr. Collins received the award at the Missouri Association of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons’ (MAOPS) annual meeting.

Dr. Collins was chosen from osteopathic family physicians across the state who have made outstanding contributions to the profession and society. Nominees are reviewed by the MSACOFP Nominating Committee, which then recommends one candidate to the MSACOFP Board of Governors.

“Dr. Collins’ dedication to osteopathic students and residents is unsurpassed. He is an outstanding role model, and his dedication to the osteopathic profession is an inspiration to us all,” says Alan W. Brewer, D.O., FACOFP, a member of the MSACOFP Board of Governors.

A physician with Kirksville Family Medicine (KFM), an ATSU-KCOM-affiliated clinic, Dr. Collins is residency director for Osteopathic Family Medicine at Northeast Regional Medical Center/KCOM, ensuring that residents have the training they need in hospitals and clinics to be eligible for board certification.

“KFM supports the training mission of KCOM but also provides top-notch medical care,” he says. “The training of primary care physicians is critical to what we need nationally, as well as locally. I would like to see KFM become the premier place people want to go for their care.”

A liaison to the MSACOFP club at ATSU-KCOM, Dr. Collins also is faculty advisor for MOSA, the student organization for MAOPS. For Dr. Collins, board certified in family medicine and OMT as well as neuromusculoskeletal medicine, teaching is a win-win because it also gives back to the profession.

Also contributing to the profession is his involvement in organizational medicine. Dr. Collins, who testifies at the state Capitol on bills relating to physicians, says there is a need to make legislators aware of the profession so they can make good decisions in the best interests of patients. And always the consummate teacher, he brings students and residents in hopes they, too, will be involved not only in supporting the profession but also protecting the patients they serve.