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Jefferson Underwood III, M.D., Named President for 2018-2019

Posted by admin on April 20, 2018

MONTGOMERY – Long-time Montgomery physician and Association member Jefferson Underwood III, M.D., was recently named President of the Board of Censors of the Medical Association of the State of Alabama. Dr. Underwood is the first African-American male to serve as President of the Association. He previously served the Association as President-Elect, Secretary-Treasurer and Vice President.

“The Association is grateful to Dr. Underwood for his guidance and leadership as an officer of the organization and is appreciative of the continuing impact he has as a member of the Board of Censors,” Executive Director Mark Jackson said. “His medical experience, as well as his civic-mindedness and sense of diversity and compassion has brought a strong perspective to the Board. It has been a genuine pleasure getting to know and work with such a leader in the medical community.”

Dr. Underwood is a Summa Cum Laude graduate of Alabama State University in Montgomery and Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tenn. He completed his internship and residency at D.C. General Hospital/Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

He received the Douglas L. Cannon Award from the Medical Association for Outstanding Medical Journalism for Community Service, a recipient of the Alabama Young Democrats Achievement Award for Community Service in Health, 2005 Physician of the Year, and 2015 Montgomery’s Top Doctor by the International Association of Internal Medicine.

Dr. Underwood is a Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians. He is a member of the American Medical Association, National Medical Association, the American College of Physicians, the Alabama Chapter of the American College of Physicians, International Society for Hypertension in Blacks, as well as the Editorial Board for the Journal of Ethnicity. He is a member of the Montgomery County Medical Society (in which he has served on the Board of Trustees and as President) and the Medical Association of the State of Alabama’s Board of Censors.

Giving back to his community is one of Dr. Underwood’s passions. As an adjunct professor at Alabama State University, he taught biology. He also served on the board of directors for the Montgomery Area United Way, the Alliance for Responsible Individual Choices for AIDS/HIV, Montgomery County Health Department Hunt Diabetic Clinic, Central Alabama Home Health, Oxford Home Health, Father Walter’s Center for Gifted Children, Habitat for Humanity, and was the health editor for The Montgomery Advertiser.

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Haleyville Physician Installed as President for 2017-2018

Posted by admin on May 19, 2017

MONTGOMERY – Boyde Jerome “Jerry” Harrison, a family practitioner from Haleyville, was formally installed as president of the Medical Association of the State of Alabama during the 2017 Inauguration, Awards Presentation and 50-Year Physician Recognition Dinner last month.

“From the time I was a boy, my mother wanted me to get an education, so she pushed me towards one,” Dr. Harrison told the crowd of banquet attendees. “Patience, persistence, perspiration, stubbornness…these are a good combination for success. Physicians face challenges every day, and I’m excited to lead the state’s oldest professional medical organization as we navigate these challenges to fight for better health care for our citizens and fewer mandates for our physicians.”

Dr. Harrison is a graduate of the University of Alabama Birmingham School of Medicine and did his internship and residency at Georgia Baptist Medical Center. He’s been in family practice in Haleyville since 1981, and has been very active in the community serving on numerous staff appointments with Burdick-West Memorial Medical Center, Carraway Memorial Medical Center, Lackland Community Hospital, and medical director for Haleyville Healthcare, Hendrix Healthcare and Ridgeview Healthcare, among others.

A long-time member of the American Medical Association, Dr. Harrison has served as Hospital Medical Staff Section Representative, Alternate Delegate and received the Physicians Recognition Award. He has been a member of the Medical Association and Winston County Medical Society since 1982 and has served on the Council of Medical Service, Board of Censors for 10 years before being elected chair, Counselor and Life Counselor. As a member of the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners, Dr. Harrison has served on the Credentials Committee and chair of the ALBME. He is a member and Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians. Dr. Harrison is also a member and past president of the Alabama Academy of Family Physicians and has served on the board of directors as vice president, president-elect and chair.

Dr. Harrison is also one of the architects of the Medical Association’s Opioid Prescribing Conference. This year marks the ninth year of the course, and by the end of 2017, the Association will have completed 31 courses. So far, the courses have reached almost 5,000 prescribers. Until 2013 Alabama was one of the only states offering an opioid prescribing education course when the FDA developed the blueprint for Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies for producers of controlled substances.