Long-time MAFP Volunteer Leader Accepts Position at AAFP

MAFP honored Karen Mitchell, MD, FAAFP—pictured here with MAFP Chair Robert Jackson, MD, MMM—with the 2017 Michigan Family Medicine Educator of the Year Award.

After 28 years of practicing Family Medicine in Michigan and serving in many different volunteer leadership roles at MAFP, Karen Mitchell, MD, FAAFP (Southfield) will begin a new chapter when she joins the AAFP staff in September as director of the Division of Medical Education.

In this role, she will oversee AAFP initiatives focused on students and residents. Specifically, she will be involved with Graduate Medical Education and workforce issues, resident and student affairs, and events such as the National Conference of Family Medicine Residents and Medical Students, Residency Education Symposium, and Residency Education Solutions, among other projects.

For the past 10 years, Dr. Mitchell has served as director of Ascension Providence Family Medicine Residency—the program where she completed her residency training in 1990, and where she is also a clinical faculty member. She is a current Family Medicine Foundation of Michigan Trustee, past president of MAFP (1999-2000), and has served on numerous committees of the Michigan chapter and its Foundation, as well as on the MAFP Board of Directors.

At the national level, Dr. Mitchell is immediate past president of the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors, past chair of the American Board of Family Medicine, and was elected as one of the first women delegates/alternate delegates to the AAFP Congress, positions she held for a combined total of 10 years. She has also volunteered her time to serve on several AAFP commissions over the years.

“I owe my leadership skills and leadership pathway to MAFP, and I have had many mentors along the way who have helped shape my career. I’m so grateful to be giving back to current students, residents, and new leaders, and I am looking forward to collaborating with organizations nationwide in my new role at AAFP to promote Family Medicine,” said Dr. Mitchell.