Reid B. Blackwelder, MD, FAAFP, a family physician in Kingsport, Tennessee, is board chair of the American Academy of Family Physicians. Previously, he served one-year terms as president and president-elect, and three years as a member of the AAFP Board of Directors. Blackwelder was elected to these positions by the Congress of Delegates, the AAFP’s governing body. The AAFP represents 115,900 physicians and medical students nationwide. Blackwelder serves as director of the Medical Student Education Division for the Department of Family Medicine at East Tennessee State University’s James H. Quillen College of Medicine in Johnson City, Tennessee, where he is also a professor of family medicine. He previously served as program director of the Kingsport Family Medicine Residency Program of ETSU for more than 13 years and remains on faculty at the residency.
In addition to caring for patients and serving in leadership roles for the AAFP, Blackwelder has dedicated a significant amount of his time to teaching medical students and residents. In fact, his dedication has earned him a plethora of outstanding teaching awards, including several awards from the Quillen College of Medicine’s Caduceus Club, the Humanism in Medicine Award from the New Jersey Health Foundation and the Dean’s Teaching Award from ETSU. Additionally, Blackwelder was named Outstanding Family Medicine Attending Physician of the Year numerous times, and he was selected Mentor of the Year in 2001, 2010 and 2014 by ETSU medical students. He has mentored more than 1,500 medical students during his time at ETSU.
Blackwelder earned his undergraduate degree in biology from Haverford College in Haverford, Pennsylvania, and his medical degree from Emory University in Atlanta, graduating cum laude and as a member of Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. He then completed his residency at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, serving as chief resident. Blackwelder is board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine and has the AAFP Degree of Fellow, an earned degree awarded to family physicians for distinguished service and continuing medical education.