Odessa Family Doctor Wins TAFP Leadership Award

• By Texas Academy of Family Physicians
• December 4, 2019

Ikemefuna “Ike” Okwuwa, MD, of Odessa, Texas, was awarded the Texas Academy of Family Physicians Special Constituency Leadership Award during TAFP’s Annual Session and Primary Care Summit in The Woodlands on Nov. 9. The award was established by the TAFP Section on Special Constituencies and honors an outstanding TAFP member who is a strong advocate for a specific special constituency or, as a member of a specific constituency, has served as an outstanding leader. The five special constituencies are women physicians, minority physicians, international medical graduates, LGBT physicians, and new physicians.

“What sets Dr. Okwuwa apart is not the leadership positions he has held, but his dedication and the way he encourages, inspires, and welcomes others,” Hart said. “Our meetings are never held anywhere near Odessa, but he rarely misses a meeting and often brings residents and other faculty with him.”

Okwuwa is the Program Director at the Texas Tech Permian Basin Family Medicine Residency Program. In the seven years since he completed residency, he’s served on the TAFP Board of Directors, completed TAFP’s Family Medicine Leadership Experience, was appointed to a TMA Council, was elected IMG co-convener at the AAFP’s National Conference of Constituency Leaders as a first-time attendee, and was appointed to the AAFP Commission on Membership and Member Services.

At the residency program, he is a dedicated and respected leader. He is known for giving diverse constituencies a voice in the program and for inspiring and promoting leadership.

Family physicians like Okwuwa are qualified to work in all major medical areas and are trained to treat more than 90 percent of all cases they encounter. Family physicians care for patients of all ages.