The Ohio Academy of Family Physicians (OAFP) is pleased to announce that S. Bruce Binder, MD, PhD, ABFP, will receive its 2022 Family Medicine Educator of the Year Award.
The OAFP annually presents the Family Medicine Educator of the Year Award to a family medicine educator who exhibits extraordinary, beyond-the-call-of-duty merit, encourages students to pursue the ideals of family medicine, participates in research, and is an inspiring leader.
Dr. Binder is an associate professor and chair of the Department of Family Medicine at the Wright State University (WSU) Boonshoft School of Medicine (BSOM) in Fairborn, OH, where he currently serves as interim associate dean for medical education. He is also the medical director for the Wright State Physicians Family Medicine Practice.
He is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Medicine, where he earned his MD, and the University of Virginia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences where he earned his PhD in Pharmacology. He then completed residency at the WSU-affiliated St. Elizabeth Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program.
OAFP’s 2020 Family Medicine Educator of the Year Kate Conway MD, MPH, explained, “As a BSOM student I heard Dr. Binder say ‘Family First’ inside and outside the classroom. When I returned to BSOM as faculty almost 10 years later, Dr. Binder said this to me again. I saw first-hand how he had implemented a strategy of ‘Family First’ in regards to family medicine faculty being involved in the medical education of BSOM students throughout M1-M4 years.”
Dr. Binder precepts medical students to instruct direct patient care, and teaches Introduction to Clinical Medicine 1 and 2 where he leads small group discussions on interviewing skills, physical exam trainings, and multiple case sessions.
In addition to teaching, Dr. Binder lead a grant program at WSU aimed at accelerating the transformation of the primary care curriculum across faculty and graduate/undergraduate programs in family medicine, internal medicine, and pediatrics, including nurse practitioners and physician assistants. During the implementation of the updated curriculum, WSU was given supplemental funding to provide training to healthcare students and physicians on medication-assisted treatment in opioid use disorders. The goal of the training is to improve prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of opioid use disorder and to prepare primary care physicians to successfully address the opioid epidemic.
“I think the thing I want them [medical students] to take away the most from my time with them is compassionate care for their patient, regardless of either the patients’ or their own circumstances,” said Dr. Binder. “I hope they also see what an incredibly wonderful specialty family medicine is, so much so that they want to do it. I have an American Academy of Family Physicians t-shirt from several years ago hanging in my office. It says ‘Family Medicine – because freaking awesome is not an official job title’ and I try to emphasize that to them whenever possible. My hope is that even the students who are staunchly headed to something else have a greater respect for their family medicine colleagues.”
Dr. Binder has had an immense influence on the BSOM curriculum, from patient interviewing week one of medical school to simulated patient encounters in M4, ensuring that the future of family medicine is prepared to the fullest.
“I want to thank all those in academic family medicine who are working so diligently to shape the workforce of tomorrow and hopefully the face of medicine,” said Dr. Binder. “And a special shout out to all the folks out there in private practice who take the time and energy to precept students in their offices—you truly are unsung educational heroes.”
The OAFP is proud to honor Dr. Binder in his achievements as a family medicine educator.
Dr. Binder lives in Beavercreek, OH, with his spouse, Shirley, and has three children, David, Michael, and Robert, along with nine grandchildren.
To learn more about the Family Medicine Educator of the Year Award, please visit the OAFP website.