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.