Ratcliff Receives Soaring Eagle Award for Service

Keith Ratcliff, MD, FAAFP, of Washington, past president and board chair of the Missouri Academy of Family Physicians, passed the gavel to new board chair, Todd D. Shaffer, MD, of Lee’s Summit, at the 64th Annual Scientific Assembly of the Missouri Academy of Family Physicians.

The assembly was held June 23 in Lake Ozark.

Dr. Shaffer presented Dr. Ratcliff with the “Soaring Eagle,” an award presented to past presidents of the academy who have completed their tenure in leadership.

Founded in 1947, the Missouri Academy of Family Physicians (MAFP) is a non-profit professional medical society of more than 1,600 physicians, residents and medical students across the state.

Approximately 1 in 4 office visits are made to family physicians. That is 228 million office visits each year — nearly 84 million more than the next largest medical specialty.

Today, family physicians provide more care for America’s underserved and rural populations than any other medical specialty.

MAFP, headquartered in Jefferson City, is dedicated to optimizing the health of patients, families and communities of Missouri through patient care, advocacy, education and research.

The MAFP is a constituent chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), one of the largest medical organizations in the United States, representing more than 100,300 family physicians, family medicine residents and medical students nationwide and is the only medical society devoted solely to primary care.

The AAFP is headquartered in Leawood, Kan.