During the 2026 Annual Meeting on July 18, Brandon Karmo, DO, FAAFP, was installed as the Michigan Academy of Family Physicians’ 78th president by American Academy of Family Physicians President Sarah C. Nosal, MD, FAAFP.

Dr. Karmo discovered his passion for family medicine during his final year at the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Pennsylvania, when a rotation revealed the specialty’s breadth and focus on relationships. During his residency at what was then Ascension Providence Hospital, he was named chief resident. He became involved with the Academy through Michigan Family Medicine Advocacy Day and the AAFP's Family Medicine Advocacy Summit.

“That was the moment I realized the Michigan Academy of Family Physicians wasn’t just a professional organization,” Dr. Karmo said during his incoming presidential speech. “It was a family.”

That experience led him to join the MAFP Board, where he learned from established leaders and gained the confidence to pursue a longtime goal: opening an independent practice. In 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Karmo and Madeleine McMall, DO opened their practice despite significant uncertainty. He credits the advice, encouragement, and support of fellow MAFP members with helping the practice overcome challenges and grow.

As he begins his term as MAFP president, Dr. Karmo acknowledged the increasing administrative burdens, reimbursement challenges, physician burnout, and rapid technological changes affecting family medicine. Despite these pressures, he remains optimistic about the specialty’s future and emphasized that relationships are central to family medicine.

“Every day, family physicians across Michigan quietly change lives,” he said. “We care for newborns, comfort grieving families, help patients through chronic illness, celebrate recoveries, and earn the trust of generations. Those moments rarely make headlines. But they matter.”

Dr. Karmo pledged to listen, lead with humility, and represent members across all practice settings, including independent practices, large health systems, rural communities, urban neighborhoods, and academic medical centers. He also announced plans to use MAFP’s communications channels to highlight members’ accomplishments, innovations, and contributions to their patients and communities.

“The Michigan Academy of Family Physicians has always been more than an organization,” Dr. Karmo said. “It is our collective voice. It is where we advocate for our patients, mentor future physicians, support one another, and remind ourselves why we chose this profession in the first place.”