The OAFP Foundation is proud to honor Charles (Chad) Garven, MD, of Cleveland, OH, as this year’s Family Physician Mentor Award recipient.
Dr. Garven currently practices at Neighborhood Family Practice, a federally qualified health center in Cleveland, where he chairs the Student Experience Committee. He earned his medical degree from the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine in Dayton, OH, and completed his residency training at Trident/Medical University of South Carolina Family Medicine Residency in Charleston, SC.
“My experience in family medicine has been a fantastic one. I have had a variety of mentors during my career that provided me with an incredible wealth of knowledge. With those mentors in mind each day, I believe that with each student I encounter, I must provide that same example – family medicine is something that is doable, fun, and incredibly important.
“As medicine continually changes, I find that most students rule out family medicine for fear of lifestyle, finances, and other unfounded reasons. I hope that in working with a young physician and a care team of a variety of professions, medical students can see that caring for the underserved is something that can be done. I love what I do. I sincerely enjoy working with my staff and patients bettering the health of my own community. By highlighting these aspects to medical students, I believe I can foster the idea that the stress of practicing medicine does not crush those who do it.
“Working with medical students keeps me refreshed, helps me provide better care for my patients, and fosters the future generation that I will one day have to rely on to improve the health in our communities. Spending time with medical students who are enthusiastic, passionate, and spirited also forces me to find those qualities within myself each day. These likely future colleagues will fight to prove that family medicine provides the best care for patients and sustains an incredibly rewarding career path–a fight that my mentors have instilled in me along the way and that I will continue to share.”
In Dr. Garven’s nomination letter, Kate Kelly, a third-year medical student at the Northeast Ohio Medical University, explained what she valued most in her mentor stating, “Without him, I would not have been able to gain the breadth and depth of knowledge during my short summer experience. It is through genuine love of one’s work that a physician can inspire others. I sincerely believe that Dr. Garven’s joy in his profession and the pride he takes in caring for others shines through motiving future physicians like myself to pursue family medicine.”
Dr. Garven was celebrated this past weekend during the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians Academy Awards Dinner in Dublin, OH. For more information about the Foundation’s Leroy A. Rodgers, MD, Preceptorship Program, visit the Foundation’s website.