MACON – William Bina, MD, FAAFP, dean of the Mercer University School of Medicine, received the 2014 Georgia Family Physician of the Year Award from the Georgia Academy of Family Physicians (GAFP) in November.
This prestigious honor is awarded annually to a family physician who has been a leader in the profession of family medicine and who makes an outstanding contribution to the profession and the community while providing excellent clinical care.
Dr. Bina joined the Mercer faculty in 1991 and has served in various family medicine and community medicine departmental roles, including director of the Family Practice Residency program, chair of community medicine and director of the nationally accredited Master of Public Health degree program.
He served in the School of Medicine as executive associate dean and interim dean prior to appointment as dean in March 2009. Before coming to Mercer, Dr. Bina was director of the Occupational Health and Preventive Medicine Division, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Department of the Navy in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Bina has held various leadership roles with the GAFP, including a term as president from 1998-1999. In addition, he has served as medical director of the Central Georgia Cancer Coalition, a state-certified regional cancer coalition of excellence.
Dr. Bina received his B.S. in nuclear science from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and his M.D. from the University of Nebraska in Omaha, Nebraska. He completed his family medicine residency at Naval Regional Medical Center in Camp Pendleton, California. Dr. Bina also completed a general preventive medicine residency and a Master of Public Health degree from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.
“Throughout his career, not only has Dr. Bina been an asset to his community in Macon, but he is also well known as a great advocate for international medical care and education,” read a release issued by the GAFP.
Under the leadership of Dr. Bina, the School of Medicine has participated in service-learning and study abroad trips to China, Cambodia and Honduras through the University's Mercer On Mission initiative.
“He truly embodies the Family Physician of the Year Award, GAFP's highest honor,” the release continued.
Established in 1947, the GAFP is a member chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians. GAFP strives to promote the health of the citizens of Georgia by advancing the specialty of family medicine through education, advocacy and service to family physicians in the state of Georgia. Boasting a membership of 2,500 family physicians, family medicine residents and medical students, the organization supports those who aspire to achieve excellence and who are committed to delivering it.
For more information, visit www.gafp.org or call (404) 321-7445.
About the Mercer University School of Medicine (Macon, Savannah and Columbus)
Mercer University's School of Medicine was established in 1982 to educate physicians and health professionals to meet the primary care and health care needs of rural and medically underserved areas of Georgia. Today, more than 60 percent of graduates currently practice in the state of Georgia, and of those, more than 80 percent are practicing in rural or medically underserved areas of Georgia. Mercer medical students benefit from a problem-based medical education program that provides early patient care experiences. Such an academic environment fosters the early development of clinical problem-solving and instills in each student an awareness of the place of the basic medical sciences in medical practice. The School opened a full four-year campus in Savannah in 2008 at Memorial University Medical Center. In 2012, the School began offering clinical education for third- and fourth-year medical students in Columbus. Following their second year, students participate in core clinical clerkships at the School's primary teaching hospitals: Medical Center, Navicent Health in Macon; Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah; and The Medical Center and St. Francis Hospital in Columbus. The School also offers master's degrees in family therapy, preclinical sciences and biomedical sciences and a Ph.D. and Psy.D. in clinical medical psychology.
