Virginia Academy of Family Physicians names Virginia Beach doctor as Family Physician of the Year

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Mitchell B. Miller, M.D.
Mitchell B. Miller, M.D.

Mitchell B. Miller, M.D., who has practiced family medicine in Virginia Beach for more than 36 years, recently was named Virginia Family Physician of the Year by the Virginia Academy of Family Physicians.

The academy is the largest medical specialty society in the state with a membership of more than 3,200 family physicians, family medicine residents and medical students.

“I was very honored and humbled to receive this award,” Miller said. “I had received the Virginia Beach Physician of the Year award in 2006. But the VAFP Family Physician of the Year is recognition by my peers from around the state. It recognizes my contributions to my patients, profession, students and community.”

Miller works with medical students from Eastern Virginia Medical School and Virginia Commonwealth University.

“My involvement in teaching is not in the classroom, but rather as a preceptor for students during their Family Medicine rotation. The students rotate with me in my office in Virginia Beach, seeing patients along with me for their four- to six-week Family Medicine rotations. Some VCU students choose to do their rotation out of the local Richmond area.”

While this is the first time Miller has received the Virginia Family Physician of the Year award, the Virginia Academy of Family Physicians in 2006 named him Volunteer of the Year for his work in Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina.

“My volunteer activities have been very important to me,” Miller said. “I recently returned from the RAM [Remote Area Medical] event in Wise, Virginia, where we served the indigent patients from the Appalachian region. … I was recruited for it by Dr. Michelle Whitehurst-Cook, [associate] dean of admissions for VCU School of Medicine. She and I trained together as residents.”

Miller said he felt like he accepted the Virginia Family Physician of the Year on behalf of all family physicians in Virginia.

“To me, this recognition was not about one person, but rather it acknowledged the dedication that my colleagues show on a daily basis to taking care of the citizens of Virginia despite the many barriers to doing so — from regulations and insurance companies to financial and others — they place the well-being of their patients above all else,” Miller said. “So this award was really a celebration of the difference that family physicians can and do make.”