Michael Munger, MD, FAAFP, Assumes Role of President of the American Academy of Family Physicians

SAN ANTONIO, Sept. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Michael L. Munger, MD, FAAFP, a family physician in Overland Park, Kansas, today assumes the role of president of the American Academy of Family Physicians. Previously, he served three years as a director on the AAFP Board and one year as president-elect. Munger was chosen president-elect in September 2016 by the Congress of Delegates, the AAFP's governing body. The AAFP represents 129,000 physicians and medical students nationwide.

As AAFP president, Munger advocates on behalf of family physicians and patients nationwide to inspire positive change in the U.S. health care system.

Munger has been a practicing family physician in the Kansas City metropolitan area for 30 years. He is currently in practice at Saint Luke's Physicians Group in Overland Park, where he also serves as vice president of medical affairs for primary care. The group has 105 physician members at 14 different sites, three of which maintain Level 3 medical home designation from the National Committee for Quality Assurance, and 11 of which are participants in the Comprehensive Primary Care Plus Initiative. CPC+ is an outcome of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Innovation Center. Through such initiatives, Munger and his team continue to be leaders in strengthening primary care to promote better health and reduce overall health care costs. 

Munger formerly served as medical director for Sweet Life at Grand Court Assisted Living, also in Overland Park. Previously he practiced for 16 years at Group Practice Hickman Mills Clinic, Inc., in Kansas City, Missouri.

Munger served as a volunteer clinical assistant professor at the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Kansas City, Kansas, and as associate faculty at both the Baptist Medical Center Family Practice Residency in Kansas City, Missouri, and the University of Missouri – Kansas City School of Medicine.

A member of the AAFP since 1986, Munger has served on numerous commissions and committees, including the Commission on Education and the Commission on Education's Subcommittee on National Conference Planning, both of which he also chaired. He also served on the Commission on Health of the Public and Science. He served three years as the Kansas Academy of Family Physicians delegate to the AAFP Congress of Delegates. Previously, he served three years as Missouri's delegate to the Congress of Delegates. Munger deepened his Congress of Delegates involvement by serving as a member of the Reference Committee on Education, the Reference Committee on Public Health and as chair of the Credentials Committee.

At the state level, Munger is an active member of the Kansas Academy of Family Physicians, having held key leadership positions, including secretary, president-elect, president and board chair. When practicing in Missouri, Munger was actively involved in the Missouri Academy of Family Physicians, where he served in every board position, including vice president, president and board chair. He also served as vice president and president of the Kansas City Academy of Family Physicians.

An active member of his local community, Munger served as spokesperson for the Clean Air Kansas City initiative and as a member of the Overland Park Chamber of Commerce's Public Smoking Restriction task force. For nearly a decade, Munger also volunteered at the Kansas City Free Health Clinic.

Munger earned his Bachelor of Arts and medical degrees from University of Missouri – Kansas City. He completed his family medicine residency at what was then the Goppert Family Practice Residency Program at Baptist Medical Center, also in Kansas City, Missouri.

Munger 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 129,000 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

Related Links

http://www.aafp.org